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ALIF 


RECENT  DEVELOPMENTS  IN  CHINA 


RECENT  DEVELOPMENTS 
IN  CHINA 


CLARK  UNIVERSITY  ADDRESSES 

NOVEMBER,  1912 


EDITED  BY 

GEORGE  H.  BLAKESLEE 

Professor  of  History,  Clark  University 


?f<3V.-'2»1f 


NEW  YORK 

G.  E.  STECHERT  AND  COMPANY 
1913 


3  i  9 


Copyright 
Clark  University 


COMPOSED  AND  PRINTED  AT  THE 

WAVERLY  PRESS 
Bt  the  Williams  &  Wilkins  Company 
Baltimobe,  U.  S.  a. 


3S 


CONTENTS 

Introduction.    Dr.  George  H.  Blakeslee vii 

I.  The  Means  of  Unifying  China.     Charles  W.  Elliot,  LL.D., 

President  Emeritus  of  Harvard  University 1 

II.  The  Effect  of  the  Revolution  Upon  the  Relations 
Between  China  and  the  United  States.  Ching-Chun 
Wang,  Ph.D.,  Assistant-Director  of  the  Peking-Mukden 
Railway,  Delegate  from  the  Republic  of  China  to  the  re- 
cent International  Congress  of  Chambers  of  Commerce.  .     19 

III.  The  New  Holy  Alliance  for  China.    Albert  Bushnell  Hart, 

LL.D.,  Professor  of  Government  in  Harvard  University. .     37 

IV.  A  Plea  for  Fair  Play  and  the  Recognition  of  the  Chinese 

Republic.     Major  Louis  Livingston  Seaman,  M.D.,  LL.B., 

F.R.G.S.,  President  of  the  China  Society  of  America 50 

V.  The  Genesis  of  the  Republican  Revolution  in  China 
FROM  A  South  China  Standpoint.  John  Stuart  Thom- 
son, sometime  Agent  at  Hong  Kong,  China,  of  the  Pacific 
Mail   and   Toyo   Kisen   Kaisha   Trans-Pacific   Steamship 

Companies 66 

VI.  The   Western   Influence   in   China.     Edward   W.    Capen, 
Ph.D.,  Hartford  School  of  Missions;  recently  on  special 

sociological  and  missionary  research  in  the  Far  East 93 

VII.  China's  Loan  Negotiations.  Hon.  Willard  Straight,  Rep- 
resentative of  the  American  Banking  Group 119 

VIII.  The  Relation  of  the  Returned  Students  to  the  Chinese 
Revolution.  Y.  S.  Tsao,  Secretary  of  the  Chinese  Stu- 
dents' Alliance  in  America 162 

IX.  American  and  Japanese  Diplomacy  in  China.     Masujiro 
Honda,  D.Litt.,  Tokyo,  Japan;   recently  Editor  of   The 

Oriental   Review " 176 

^  Some  of  China's  Physical  Problems.  Charles  K.  Edmunds, 
Ph.D.,  President  of  the  Canton  Christian  College  and  Ob- 
server in  Charge  of  the  Magnetic  Survey  of  China  under 
the  Auspices  of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington. .  .  181 
XI.  The  Westernizing  of  Chinese  Medical  Practice.  Charles 
W.  Young,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Bacteriology  and  Pathology, 

Union  Medical  College,  Peking 199 

XII.  The  Opium  Abolition  Question.  J.  O.  P.  Bland,  formerly 
of  the  Imperial  Maritime  Customs,  Secretary  of  the  Shang- 
hai Municipality  and  Times  Correspondent  in  China 223 

XIII.  America's    Business   Opportunity  in   China.     B.    Atwood 

Robinson 237 

XIV.  The  Industrial  Future  of  Shansi  Province.     Rev.  Paul 

L.  Corbin  of  Shansi  Province 256 

V 


VI  CONTENTS 

XV.  Sir  Robert  Hart  and  His  Life  Work  in  China.     Edward  B. 
Drew,  A.M.,  Commissioner  of  Chinese  Imperial  Maritime 

Customs,  rot ircd 272 

XVI.  A  Personal   Ksti.matb   of   the   Character   op   the    Late 
Empress  Dowager,  Tze-Hsi.     Katharine  A.  Carl,  Painter 

of  the  Portrait  of  the  Late  Empress  Dowager 305 

XVn.  The  Manchu  Conquest  of  China.     F.  W.  Williams,  Assist- 
ant Professor  of  Modern  Oriental  History,  Yale  University  319 
XVIIL  Some  Experiences  at  the  Siege  of  Nanking  During  the 
Revolution.    C.  Voonping  Yui,  M.D.,   of  the  Chinese 

Red  Cross  Society 335 

XIX.  The  Effect  of  the  Revolution  Upon  the  Educational 
System  of  China.     P.  W.  Kuo,  M.A.,  Ex-President  of 

Chinese  Students'  Alliance  in  America 345 

XX.  Moral  and  Spiritual  Elements  in  the  Chinese  Revolu- 
tion   AND    IN    THE    PRESENT    OuTLOOK.      ReV.    CharlcS    L. 

Storrs,  Shaowu,  China,  Foochow  Mission 359 

XXI.  Organization  and  Recent  Work  of  the  Catholic  Missions 
IN  China.    Rev.  Father  Leo  Desmet,  for  Thirteen  Years 

a  Missionary  in  Mongolia 378 

XXII.  Some  Recent  Developments  op  Christian  Education  in 
China.  John  Franklin  Goucher,  LL.D.,  President  Emer- 
itus of  Goucher  College;  President  of  Board  of  Governors, 
University  of  Chengtu;  Trustee,  University  of  Peking 388 


INTRODUCTION 

The  Pacific  is  challenging  the  supremacy  of  the  Atlantic. 
Half  a  century  ago  Baron  von  Humboldt  and  our  own  keen- 
sighted  statesman,  William  E.  Seward,  both  prophesied  the 
eventful  triumph  of  this  greatest  of  all  oceans;  and  today  it  is 
claimed  that  the  center  of  the  world's  trade  and  commerce, 
which  in  the  past  has  moved  from  the  Tigris-Euphrates 
Valley  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  then  from  the  Mediter- 
ranean to  the  Atlantic,  bids  fair,  "in  the  life  time  of  those 
now  children  to  shift  once  more  westward  to  the  Pacific." 
As  Ex-president  Roosevelt  expressed  it,  not  many  years  ago, 
''The  Pacific  Era  destined  to  be  the  greatest  of  all,  and  to 
bring  the  whole  human  race  at  last  into  one  great  comity  of 
nations,  is  just  at  the  dawn."  Whether  the  Pacific  will  actu- 
ally surpass  the  Atlantic  as  a  center  of  human  interest  and 
business  activity  may  well  be  doubted,  but  that  it  will  very 
soon  share  with  the  Atlantic  the  unquestioned  supremacy 
which  the  latter  has  so  long  enjoyed  seems  reasonably  certain. 

Already  the  world's  political  center  of  gravity  has  shifted 
to  the  Pacific.  The  changes  which  are  upsetting  the  long- 
established  equilibrium  of  the  nations,  which  are  overturn- 
ing the  present  balance  of  power,  are  taking  place  primarily 
in  the  lands  washed  by  that  ocean.  It  has  already,  in  the 
past  two  decades,  given  birth  to  one  new  world  power,  Japan, 
which  in  the  last  few  years  has  most  profoundly  changed  the 
aspect  of  international  politics,  and  whose  alliance  with  Great 
Britain  is  today  the  controlling  political  fact  in  Asia  cer- 
tainly, and  possibly  in  Europe  as  well.  It  is  this  alliance, 
according  to  some  critics  of  international  politics,  which  has 
led  to  the  realignment  of  the  great  military  states  in  Europe 
itself.  After  Japan  there  comes  China,  soon  to  be  a  second 
new  world  power  and  destined  still  further  to  disturb  the 
world's  present  international  balance. 

The  population  and  the  resources  of  the  Pacific,  which  will 
determine  the  eventful  importance  of  the  ocean,  compare 


VUl  INTRODUCTION 

fuNoiably  with,  and  in  sonic  instances  surpass  those  of  the 
Athmtic.  In  climate,  fertility  of  soil  and  ability  to  produce 
large  quantities  of  the  world's  staples,  there  is  not  very 
much  difTcrencc  between  them.  In  population,  the  Chinese 
aiul  the  Japanese  alone  outnumber  the  inhabitants  of 
Europe,  while  the  recent  success  of  Japan  in  proving  itself 
superior  to  one  of  Europe's  military  powers  in  a  kind  of 
competition  which  Europe  has  voluntarily  chosen  as  the 
su})rcme  test  of  international  ability,  shows  the  humor  of 
regarding  these  Asiatic  peoples  as  racial  inferiors/  It  is  in 
the  supply  of  the  great  natural  resources,  however,  coal  and 
iron,  that  the  Pacific  has  the  especial  advantage  of  the 
Atlantic.  According  to  IMr.  Gifford  Pinchot,  Mr.  Andrew 
Carnegie,  and  Professor  Tornebohm  of  Sweden,  the  work- 
able deposits  of  coal  and  iron  in  both  the  United  States  and 
in  Europe,  provided  the  existing  increase  in  the  rate  of  con- 
sumption continues,  will  be  used  up  before  the  end  of  the 
present  century.  Whether  this  gloomy  prophes}^  is  ac- 
cepted as  accurate  or  not,  it  seems  evident  that  when  the 
coal  and  u'on  of  the  Atlantic  lands  are  exhausted,  China 
alone  will  have  an  abundance  of  these  raw  materials  which 
have  been  well  called  "the  vital  essence  of  our  civilization." 

A  rapid  de\'elopment  in  the  Pacific  of  European  communi-- 
ties,  largely  Anglo-Saxon,  will  soon  still  further  strengthen 
this  ocean.  IMost  of  the  lands  of  the  temperate  zone  through- 
out the  world  capable  of  supporting  great  virile  populations, 
but  which  are  now  relatively  undeveloped,  are  situated  on 
the  Pacific.  Western  Canada  with  its  thousands  of  miles  of 
coast  and  its  virgin  grain  fields;  our  own  far  Western  states, 
Washington,  Oregon  and  California,  probably  unsurpassed 
in  climate  and  agricultural  possibilities;  New  Zealand  and 
Australia,  a  continent  in  extent,  will  all  in  the  near  future 
in  power  and  in  \4gor  of  race  balance  many  of  the  countries 
of  the  Atlantic. 

Even  a  slight  consideration  of  these  possibilities  of  the 
Pacific  must  give  some  idea  of  the  increasingly  important 
influence  which  its  leading  countries  will  exert  upon  the 
nations  of  the  West.  This  influence,  already  potent,  is 
bound  to  increase  rapidly  in  the  future,  especially  that  of 


INTRODUCTION  IX 

China,  the  greatest  potential  factor  in  the  dawning  Pacific 
Era.  The  strength  of  our  own  western  coast  as  well  as 
that  of  the  British  Pacific  possessions  may  be  measured  with 
reasonable  certainty;  while  both  the  power  as  well  as  the 
limitations  of  Japan  are  now  understood;  but  the  possibili- 
ties of  China,  when  thoroughly  awakened  and  organized 
on  a  modern  basis,  are  almost  beyond  computation.  The 
Chinese,  who  make  up  a  fourth  of  the  world's  population, 
are  one  of  the  ablest  known  races,  physically,  mentally 
and  morally.  Their  physical  endurance  surpasses  that  of 
Europeans  and  Americans,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
foreign  physicians;  their  mentality  is  proven  by  the  stand- 
ing of  their  students  in  Western  schools;  and  their  moral 
stamina  is  shown  by  their  earnestness  and  their  partial 
success  at  least  in  destroying  the  opium  traffic.  They  have 
already  left  the  ruts  of  their  centuries-old  civilization  and 
begun  to  adopt  the  new  customs  and  institutions  of  the 
West  and  of  Japan;  this  is  especially  noticeable  in  their 
new  system  of  scientific  education.  The  revolution  itself, 
considering  the  forces  opposing  it  and  the  immensity  of  the 
country,  has  been  carried  out,  notwithstanding  the  recent 
reaction,  with  a  success  which  has  surprised  the  closest 
students  of  Chinese  conditions. 

The  outcome  of  the  struggle  to  establish  a  stable,  modern, 
somewhat  democratic  government  in  China  is  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  United  States,  for  in  the  future  these  two 
countries  are  bound  to  exert  a  strong  influence  each  upon 
the  other,  since  they  will  remain,  probably  forever,  the 
two  most  populous  nations  upon  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
Pacific.  We  are  now  even  closer  to  China  than  we  generally 
realize.  Worcester  is  today  nearer  in  thought — by  telegraph 
and  cable — to  the  capital  of  the  Republic  of  China  than  it 
was  to  Boston  in  the  days  of  Washington;  it  is  today  nearer 
to  Peking  physically — it  takes  less  time  to  travel  there — 
than  it  was  to  Pittsburgh  when  our  national  government 
was  founded. 

Americans  have  already  most  profoundly  effected  condi- 
tions in  China.  The  leaders  of  the  present  revolution  have 
largely  followed  American  ideas  and  ideals,  and  have  taken 


X  INTRODUCTION 

as  tlioir  heroes  our  own  national  lieroes  of  the  past.  Ameri- 
can scliools  ha\-e  laid  much  of  the  basis  upon  which  the 
new  China  has  been  built.  With  only  a  little  exaggeration — 
for  the  important  part  played  by  Japan  must  not  be  for- 
gotten— one  might  write  a  histor}^  of  the  upheaval  of  the 
past  two  or  three  years  under  the  title  "The  American 
Revolution  in  China." 

When  the  Pacific  Era  shall  have  become  an  accomplished 
fact,  tlio  influence  of  the  orient  as  a  whole,  and  of  China  in 
particular,  will  be  increasingly  great.  Even  at  present  the 
majority  of  the  vital  diplomatic  questions  which  have  been 
before  the  .American  Government  during  the  past  decade, 
have  been  issues  concerning  the  Pacific.  But  the  Far  East 
is  bound  to  afifect  our  country  not  merely  in  its  diplomacy, 
but  in  its  trade,  its  industry,  its  education  and  its  modes  of 
thought.  The  revolution  in  China  deserves  our  most 
earnest  study,  not  only  because,  if  successful,  this  re-crea- 
tion of  one  of  the  most  numerous  and  the  most  able  peoples 
of  the  globe  will  take  its  place  in  history  as  a  world  event 
of  lasting  importance,  but  also  because  it  will  exert  a 
marked  influence  upon  our  own  country  as  a  neighboring 
Pacific  power. 

To  consider  these  great  changes  now  taking  place,  some 
thirty  experts  came  together  at  Clark  University,  November 
13-16,  1912,  for  a  four  days  conference  upon  recent  develop- 
ments in  China.  Some  of  them  knew  the  Manchu  dynasty 
in  its  old  days,  and  were  decorated  by  the  Imperial  Court 
for  distinguished  service;  one  came  into  close  personal  touch 
with  that  almost  unapproachable  sovereign  the  Empress 
Dowager.  Some,  as  teachers  and  missionaries,  laid  the  foun- 
dation upon  which  new  China  is  rising;  one  represents  the 
modern  physician  in  the  westernizing  of  medical  practice 
in  China  and  has  himself  fought  the  plague  in  Manchuria 
with  the  bravery  and  by  the  methods  of  the  West.  Some,  as 
long-time  residents  of  China,  have  seen  the  revolution  in  its 
inception,  its  development,  its  outbreak;  they  have  known 
its  leaders  and  in  some  cases  have  taught  them  as  students. 
Still  others  are  authorities  on  the  comphcated  international 
situation  of  China;  some  of  whom  have  themselves  taken 


INTRODUCTION  XI 

leading  parts  in  one  of  the  most  important  events  of  the 
past  couple  of  years,  the  loan  negotiations.  Still  others  are 
Chinese;  some  of  them  are  students,  while  others  have 
held  important  positions  in  the  new  Republic  of  China, 
and  are  living  evidence  of  the  influence  of  America  in  the 
Chinese  revolution,  for  they  themselves  are  graduates  of 
American  higher  institutions  of  learning. 

The  addresses  delivered  in  this  Conference  have  already 
appeared  in  the  different  numbers  of  the  Journal  of  Race 
Development  but,  in  response  to  many  requests,  the  Uni- 
versity is  issuing  them  in  a  single  volume.  While  each 
address  deals  with  a  distinct  topic,  they  have  been  so  ar- 
ranged that  together  they  give  the  history  of  nearly  every 
aspect  of  the  world  movement  now  taking  place  across  the 
Pacific. 

To  the  distinguished  contributors  the  University  wishes 
to  express  its  grateful  appreciation.  It  is  their  willing  co- 
operation which  has  made  possible  both  the  conference  upon 
recent  developments  in  China  and  the  publication  of  these 
addresses. 

This  volume  is  given  to  the  public  with  the  earnest  wish 
that  its  pages  may  make  more  intelligible  the  underlying 
causes  and  the  general  progress  of  the  Chinese  revolution, 
and  may  create  a  more  sympathetic  understanding  of  the 
gifted  race  which  is  struggling  to  compress  the  natural 
evolution  of  centuries  into  the  span  of  a  few  years,  and  whose 
national  future,  as  a  growing  Pacific  power,  will  be  closely 
associated  with  our  own. 

G.  H.  Blakeslee. 

Clark  University, 
Worcester,  Massachusetts, 
November  SO,  1913. 


THE  MEANS  OF  UNIFYING  CHINA 

By  Charles  W.  Eliot,  LL.D.,  President  Emeritus  of  Harvard 

University 

I  must  tell  the  audience  first  that  I  am  not  an  "expert" 
on  China.  I  have  only  spent  about  two  months  and  a  half 
there.  The  country  is  immense;  and  when  I  was  there  it 
was  in  a  state  of  prodigious  confusion.  I  did  not  know  a 
word  of  Chinese.  So  that  I  bring  you  tonight  just  the  obser- 
vations on  China  and  its  present  condition  of  one  American 
citizen  who  has  had,  during  a  somewhat  long  fife,  a  good 
deal  of  experience  in  one  form  of  administration — educational 
administration — and  who  has  been  interested  all  his  life 
in  the  social  and  industrial  conditions  of  the  community  in 
which  he  has  hved.  To  have  been  interested  many  years  in 
the  social  and  industrial  conditions  of  one's  own  country,  if 
that  be  a  free  country,  is  a  pretty  good  fitting,  or  preparation, 
for  a  cursory  inspection  of  industrial,  social,  and  political 
conditions  in  another  country.  That  was  all  my  prepara- 
tion for  my  visit  to  China.  I  should  also  say  that  I  was  in 
the  Far  East  on  a  special  errand,  intrusted  to  me  by  the 
Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace.  This  was 
a  strange  year  in  which  to  be  an  envoy  from  a  peace-promot- 
ing organization  to  study  the  conditions  under  which  war 
breaks  out  or  peace  is  maintained.  I  had  no  sooner  started 
than  the  inexcusable  attack  of  Italy  on  Tripoli  took  place. 
I  had  not  been  long  in  Ceylon  before  Russia  invaded  Persia 
with  great  violence;  and  Great  Britain,  Persia's  neighbor  on 
the  south,  calmly  looked  on.  When  I  reached  China  that 
country  was  still  in  the  throes  of  what  had  been  a  brief  civil 
war,  comparatively  restricted  in  its  areas,  and  yet  a  civil 

1 


2  CHARLES   W.    ELIOT 

war.  And  T  liad  only  just  got  home  when  a  tremendous 
c()ntla.i!;ratioii  broke  out  in  the  Balkan  States.  This  was, 
inilood.  a  queer  year  in  which  to  be  looking  for  the  means  of 
promoting  peace  in  the  civilized  and  semi-civilized  world. 
Nevertheless,  the  fact  that  T  had  that  special  errand,  and  in 
the  East,  added  ^'er3^  much  to  the  interest  of  my  journey; 
because  it  brought  me  into  contact  with  a  considerable 
number  of  educated  Chinese  and  Japanese  whose  desires 
tended  strongly  towards  the  promotion  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  peace  throughout  the  world,  and  particularly 
between  the  eastern  and  the  western  peoples. 

I  landed  at  Hong  Kong,  and  after  a  short  stay  there  went 
to  Canton.  There  I  had  my  first  interview  with  provisional 
republican  officials,  the  group  then  in  charge  of  the  province 
of  Kwang-Tung,  the  most  turbulent  province  in  China,  and 
that  province  which  earliest  and  most  ardently  embraced  the 
cause  of  the  Republic.  Having  a  good  opportunity  there 
to  ask  what  is  for  me  a  fundamental  question  with  regard  to 
any  people,  I  asked  the  then  governor-general,  himself  a 
soldier  by  profession,  and  recently  in  command  of  a  division 
of  the  Republican  army,  "Will  the  Chinese  coolie  make  a 
good  soldier,  brave,  obedient,  and  patriotic?"  (You  may 
think  this  was  a  strange  question  for  an  advocate  of  peace; 
but  such  was  the  condition  of  China  that  it  seemed  to  me  the 
primary  question.)  The  governor-general  reflected  for  a 
time,  and  then  made  the  following  answer:  ''The  Chinese 
coolie  will  fight  well,  provided  he  knows  what  he  is  fight- 
ing for,  and  that  thing  interests  him."  That  I  thought  a 
very  good  answer;  and  its  accuracy  I  afterwards  heard  con- 
firmed by  many  witnesses  of  the  fighting  which  had  lately 
taken  place  between  the  revolutionary  and  the  imperial 
troops.  The  revolutionary  armies  were  raw  levies.  An 
American  woman  of  admirable  qualities,  who  had  already 
been  twelve  years  in  China,  was  at  Hankow  during  the  hard 
fighting  that  took  place  in  and  near  that  city;  and  she  served 
for  months  as  a  Red  Cross  nurse  in  the  hospitals  of  that 
vicinity.  She  told  me  that  she  always  asked  one  question 
of  the  wounded  who  came  under  her  care — boys  most  of 
them  were,  or  very  young  men.     She  would  ask  the  sufferer. 


THE   MEANS   OF   UNIFYING   CHINA  3 

"How  long  have  you  been  in  the  army?"  And  the  com- 
monest answers  were,  "One  week,"  "Two  weeks,"  "Three 
weeks."  Brave,  raw  recruits  fought  with  desperation,  with 
dauntless  courage,  under  the  most  trying  conditions.  They 
had  hardly  any  experienced  leaders,  and  did  not  know  their 
commanders;  but  they  were  ready  to  die  for  their  country. 

That  same  day  in  Canton  about  two  thousand  Chinese 
soldiers  passed  me  in  a  very  narrow  street,  so  narrow  that 
my  chair  had  to  be  jammed  against  the  wall,  and  the  men 
filed  by,  two  and  two,  and  no  space  to  spare.  I  did  not  see  a 
single  man  in  that  long  line  that  had  what  we  call  a  martial 
bearing.  They  were  all  fully  armed,  but  not  fully  uniformed, 
and  many  of  them  had  on  the  left  arm  a  white  band.  I  asked 
what  these  bands  meant;  and  was  told  that  these  men  all 
belonged  to  a  society  pledged  to  give  their  lives  at  any  mo- 
ment for  the  country.  The  answer  of  the  governor-general  of 
Kwang-Tung  province,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  was  an  accurate 
one.  The  Chinese  coolie,  or  peasant,  or  mechanic  will  fight 
bravely,  even  desperately,  if  he  knows  what  object  he  is 
fighting  for,  and  that  object  interests  him.  These  men  who 
made  up  the  revolutionary  armies  thought  they  were  fight- 
ing for  their  country,  for  its  freedom,  for  the  coming  of  a  just 
government;  and  that  prospect  interested  them.  Is  not 
that  just  the  spirit  in  which  American  youth  are  prepared 
to  fight?  Is  not  that  just  the  spirit  in  which  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  young  men  went  to  our  Civil  War.  Is  not  that 
just  the  spirit  in  which  our  Revolutionary  armies  were 
recruited?  Our  youth  felt  in  both  those  epochs  ready  to 
die  for  the  country,  because  they  believed  they  knew  what 
they  were  fighting  for,  and  that  thing  appealed  to  them. 

The  young  generations  in  China  today  seem  to  be  the 
legitimate  successors  of  the  earlier  generations  (1860-81), 
whose  fighting  and  marching  qualities  were  so  enthusiasti- 
cally praised  by  such  foreign  observers  as  Swinhoe,  Gordon, 
Wolseley,  and  Hamilton  (British)  and  Ward  (American). 
I  started  in  China,  therefore,  with  the  conviction  that  the 
Chinese,  though  peaceable  in  their  habits,  will  nevertheless 
make  courageous,  hardy,  resolute  fighters  at  need.  There 
was  a  great  need  at  the  moment  of  a  trustworthy  public 


4  CHARLES   W.    ELIOT 

force;  but  tho  lvo|nihlir  was  not  competent  to  enlist  and 
train  that  force,  because  it  had  no  money.  There  were 
disorders  in  several  parts  of  the  country,  because  the  troops 
were  neither  paid  nor  properly  fed;  and  these  suffering  sol- 
diers broke  out  repeatedly  in  riots  and  robbings.  Gradually 
the  revolutionary  levies  were  disbanded,  and  order  was 
restored,  with  the  help  of  the  provincial  authorities;  but  the 
poverty  of  the  central  government  prevents  it  from  organiz- 
ing an  effective  national  army. 

The  next  question  I  asked  of  officials  in  China  was,  "What 
are  the  means  of  unifying  this  great  country?"  It  has 
enormous  extent.  It  is  divided  into  eighteen  original  prov- 
inces; and  the  interests  of  those  provinces  are  diverse  in 
many  respects.  There  is  a  condition  in  China  like  what 
prevailed  in  our  thirteen  colonies  when  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion was  over — very  different  interests  in  the  north  and  the 
south,  on  the  coast  and  in  the  interior.  The  provinces  are 
not  used  to  acting  together;  they  have  no  common  language 
except  the  literary;  on  the  contrary,  people  on  the  opposite 
banks  of  the  same  river  are  often  unable  to  understand  each 
other.  People  in  adjacent  mountain  valleys  may  be  unable 
to  understand  each  other;  the  whole  people  is  used  to  pro- 
vincial government,  but  not  to  feeling  the  pressure  of  any 
national,  centralized  government. 

The  answers  to  the  questions,  "How  can  this  great  coun- 
try be  tied  together,  how  can  its  people  be  brought  to  main- 
tain a  strong  central  government,  what  are  the  means  of 
unification?"  came  to  me  only  slowly  during  my  ten-week 
stay  in  China;  and  it  is  those  answers  that  I  propose  to  lay 
before  you  this  evening.  The  means  of  unifying  China? 
They  are  the  means,  with  one  exception,  which  have  uni- 
fied this  country,  and  made  us  one  people,  north,  south, 
east,  and  west.  The  first  means  is  a  common  language; 
and  that  the  American  colonies  had  in  the  Revolutionary 
epoch,  and  have  had  ever  since,  until  the  recent  invasion  by 
millions  of  alien  peoples  not  speaking  English.  The  New 
Republic  took  immediate  measures  to  remedy  this  great 
lack  in  China.  I  say,  "took  measures."  They  made  proj- 
ects; they  wrote  out  on  paper  what  they  would  do  if  they 


THE   MEANS   OF   UNIFYING   CHINA  5 

had  the  means.  They  have  not  had  the  means;  they  have 
not  had  the  money  which  the  measures  they  proposed  must 
necessarily  cost.  A  common  language  is  the  first  unifying 
means  China  needs  to  employ.  It  is  a  great  undertaking. 
It  must  be  done  through  pubUc  schools  all  over  the  country, 
through  making  education  universal  in  its  elements.  There 
have  been  provincial  schools  in  China,  few  but  good;  there 
have  been  municipal  and  village  schools;  but  except  during 
the  last  years  of  the  Manchu  Empire  there  has  been  no 
attempt  at  universal  education;  and  the  Manchus  got 
but  little  way  with  the  project  they  formed.  Only  slowly 
can  this  need  be  met.  Ten,  fifteen,  twenty  years  will  be 
needed  in  order  to  diffuse  throughout  China  among  the 
children  and  young  people  a  common  language.  And  yet 
that  must  be  accomplished  before  the  varied  populations  of 
China  can  be  brought,*  first,  to  a  common  understanding,  and 
next,  to  such  intercommunication  that  they  gradually  be- 
come more  and  more  like  each  other,  and  come  to  enjoy  the 
same  literature. 

The  next  means  of  unification  that  I  inquired  about  is 
one  which  has  proved  to  be  unifying  in  high  degree  in  many 
nations  of  the  world.  I  mean  a  common  system  of  taxation. 
You  remember  that  the  unification  of  Germany,  which  took 
place  shortly  after  1866,  was  preceded  by  common  taxation 
methods.  Duties  were  made  the  same  by  agreement  among 
the  many  states  into  which  the  present  German  Empire 
was  then  divided.  Posts  or  mails  were  operated  by  the 
same  semi-public  agency  all  over  Germany.  The  same 
general  system  of  taxation  needs  to  prevail  throughout  a 
nation  in  order  to  unify  its  domestic  habits  and  its  industrial 
habits,  to  make  them  approximately  alike  all  over  the  coun- 
try. The  condition  in  China  has  been,  and  is,  almost  such 
as  would  prevail  in  the  United  States  if  duties  were  levied 
at  all  our  state  boundaries  on  goods  in  transport.  China 
collects  provincial  taxes  on  goods  moving  by  rail  or  other 
conveyance  from  province  to  province.  An  English  mer- 
chant in  Shanghai  who  has  long  traded  in  the  valley  of  the 
river  Yangtse  told  me  that  the  goods  he  sent  from  Shanghai 
often  paid  three,  four,  or  even  five  duties  before  they  arrived 


6  CHARLES   W.    ELIOT 

at  their  dostination.  and  that  ho  could  never  tell  how  many 
duties  or  how  much  in  toto  was  going  to  be  paid  on  a  given 
invoice.  You  see  how  difficult  communication  and  trade 
are  under  such  conditions.  You  see,  too,  how  the  price  of 
goods  will  be  affected  by  the  operation  of  these  local  taxes. 
It  is  impossible  for  the  same  goods  to  be  sold  at  the  same  price 
in  different  localities.  A  uniform  system  of  taxation  regu- 
lated by  law  is  an  indispensable  means  of  unifying  China. 
AVhen  I  \Tntured  to  broach  this  doctrine  to  Chinese  states- 
men and  scholars  it  always  aroused  in  their  minds  painful 
recollections,  and  apprehensions  about  centralized  taxation 
methods  for  the  future.  There  is  one  department  in  which 
uniform  taxation  exists  for  all  China,  namely,  in  the  Imperial 
Maritime  Customs  Service.  On  all  goods  coming  in  by  sea 
the  customs,  or  tariff  duties,  are  the  same  for  all  China. 
But  how  are  they  collected?  By  the  organization  estab- 
lished and  carried  on  for  many  years  by  Sir  Robert  Hart, 
an  admirable  organization,  the  service  perfectly  performed 
with  honesty  and  accuracy,  and  the  receipts  apphed  exactly 
where  they  should  be  apphed  in  accordance  with  existing 
treaties.  But  what  is  the  application?  To  pay  the  interest 
on  bonds  which  represent  debts  China  was  forced  by  western 
powers  to  incur,  in  order  to  pay  indemnities  to  western  pow- 
ers, and  to  pay  to  western  powers  the  war  expenses  of  those 
powers  in  carrying  on  war  against  China.  No  Chinese 
official  today,  or  at  any  time  within  a  generation  in  China, 
can  bear  to  think  of  this  uniform  tax  for  all  China,  the  cus- 
toms. WTien  I  spoke  to  three  of  the  members  of  the  present 
go\'ernment  about  this  tax,  my  reference  to  it  was  received 
with  visible  impatience  and  dishke.  They  simply  hate  to 
think  that  they  have  mortgaged  their  entire  customs  revenue 
to  pay  the  interest  on  debts  and  reduce  the  principals  of 
debts  which  China  incurred  in  consequence  of  wars  which 
western  powers  waged  against  her.  They  encounter  another 
great  difficulty  in  connection  with  this  uniform  tax,  which 
is  the  product  of  a  low,  sensible  tariff  for  revenue.  That 
difficulty  relates  to  one  result  of  Sir  Robert  Hart's  adminis- 
tration. In  all  the  great  services  of  the  customs,  which 
include  not  only  the  collection  of  the  customs,  but  also  the 


THE   MEANS   OF   UNIFYING   CHINA  7 

construction  and  maintenance  of  the  lighthouses  and  day 
marks  on  the  coasts  and  rivers  of  China,  and  many  works 
of  conservancy  in  Chinese  harbors  and  rivers,  not  a  single 
Chinese  man  has  been  trained  to  responsible  administrative 
work  of  that  sort  or  any  similar  sort  during  the  entire  exist- 
ence of  the  service.  No  Chinese  has  ever  been  appointed 
to  anything  above  a  clerkship  in  that  service;  and  the  con- 
sequence is  now  that  the  government  cannot  get  from  that 
service  a  single  man,  Chinese  by  birth,  who  is  fit  for  the  pub- 
lic service  in  similar  departments.  How  natural  that  a 
Chinese  statesman  should  hear  with  impatience  even  the 
name  of  the  Imperial  IMaritime  Customs  Service! 

The  next  unifying  influence  for  China,  as,  indeed,  it  has 
been  all  over  the  world,  is  the  provision  of  the  necessary 
means  of  intercourse  for  travelers,  pedlars,  and  traders,  and 
of  the  distribution  and  exchange  of  goods.  I  never  before 
was  in  a  country  without  roads.  I  had  lately  visited  several 
parts  of  the  Far  East  which  are  under  foreign  supervision, 
as,  for  instance,  some  British  colonies  in  the  East,  and  had 
found  admirable  roads  in  great  numbers,  thousands  of  miles 
of  hard,  smooth  roads  constructed  in  the  British  colonies, 
for  example;  and  suddenly  I  came  to  China  and  found  it  a 
country  without  made  roads.  The  western  parts  of  our 
own  country  existed  for  some  time  without  anything  that 
deserved  the  name  of  roads;  railroads  anticipated  country 
stoned  roads,  and  enabled  us  to  communicate  with  new 
settlements  along  lines  running  east  and  west  or  north  and 
south,  and  even  crossing  the  continent.  The  railroad  often 
preceded  the  settlement  of  the  country  through  which  it 
passed.  Now  China  has  not  only  no  well-built  common 
roads,  but  it  possesses  to  this  day  only  an  insignificant 
amount  of  railroad  lines.  The  number  of  miles  of  railroad 
in  China  now  in  operation  does  not  exceed  five  thousand. 
Many  a  single  state  in  our  union  has  much  more  than  that. 
I  did  not  see  a  single  macadamized,  well-built  road  in  China, 
outside  a  British  or  other  foreign  concession,  except  one. 
That  one  ran  from  the  winter  palace  in  Pekin  out  to  the  sum- 
mer palace,  and  was  sixteen  miles  long;  it  was  constructed 
for  the  passage  of  the  imperial  household  twice  a  year.     It 


S  CHARLES   W.    ELIOT 

is  iinpossihlo  fur  us  to  imagine  the  close  limitation  of  inter- 
course anil  traflic  caused  by  this  absence  of  roads.  In  order 
to  unify  ( 'liina  it  is  absolutely  indispensable  that  an  immense 
increase  should  bo  made  in  the  mileage  of  railroads  in  that 
huge  country.  But  what  does  that  mean?  That  means 
the  borrowing  of  thousands  of  millions  of  dollars  for  purposes 
of  construction. 

A  long  time  has  lately  been  spent  in  endeavoring  to  effect 
a  trifling  loan  of  $300,000,000  for  the  Republic.  Nearly  a 
year  those  negotiations  have  lasted,  and  still  there  is  no  end 
of  them.  But  that  amount  will  not  take  care  of  the  govern- 
ment itself  for  more  than  eighteen  months.  Now  China  is 
going  to  need  railroads,  long  and  many,  and  will  need  them 
urgently;  and  the  railroads  will  have  to  be  state  railroads. 
The  corporation  is  not  sufficiently  developed  in  China  itself, 
among  Chinese  people,  to  be  useful  for  the  construction  of 
the  great  mileage  of  railroads  which  the  country  needs. 
The  state  will  have  to  do  it.  "When?"  we  may  ask.  Only 
when  China  has  procured  and  set  in  operation  a  system  of 
taxation  that  will  yield  a  stable,  sure  revenue  for  the  central 
government.  That  is  the  first  thing  that  needs  to  be  done 
in  China.  To  this  end  laws  are  needed,  public  action  of 
all  sorts  is  needed,  and  foreign  advisers  are  needed;  indeed, 
they  are  indispensable,  in  order  that  the  government  may 
obtain  a  stable,  trustworthy  national  income.  When  that 
is  accomplished,  then  all  things  will  be  possible. 

Su-  Robert  Hart  in  1904  devised  a  plan  for  providing  the 
imperial  government  of  that  day  with  a  stable  and  sufficient 
revenue  by  means  of  a  moderate  land  tax.  It  had  never 
possessed  such  a  thing  as  a  revenue  in  the  modern  sense. 
The  imperial  goverrmient  exacted  tribute  from  each  of  the 
provinces;  and  about  half  the  tribute  in  money,  rice,  and  silks 
which  started  from  each  province  finally  reached  Pekin. 
But  that  tribute  was  for  the  support  of  the  imperial  house- 
hold and  the  Manchu  clan.  It  was  never  regarded  as  a 
national  revenue  in  our  sense  or  in  the  sense  of  any  modern 
government,  and  when  the  Manchus  abdicated  they  left  to 
the  new  goverrmient  no  established  system  of  collecting  a 


THE   MEANS   OF   UNIFYING   CHINA  9 

national  revenue.  They  had  never  studied  Sir  Robert 
Hart's  admirable  scheme. 

There  are  other  means  of  national  intercourse,  of  intercourse 
between  the  widely  separated  parts  of  a  great  country,  of 
intercourse  between  city  and  city,  village  and  village,  and 
between  town  and  country — posts,  telegraphs,  and  tele- 
phones. Sir  Robert  Hart  devised  and  organized  a  system  of 
posts  for  China,  and  finally  made  it  over  to  the  government 
long  before  his  retirement;  and  that  system  exists  today. 
It  is  still  presided  over  by  a  foreigner,  but  it  exists.  Also 
there  are  a  moderate  number  of  telegraph  lines,  and  in  some 
of  the  cities  and  towns  a  telephone  system  begins  to  be 
developed;  but  all  these  means  of  intercourse  are  still  imper- 
fect and  inadequate.  What  can  you  expect  in  the  way  of 
posts  in  a  country  where  there  are  so  few  railroads,  no  roads, 
and  where  most  of  the  transportation  is  on  the  backs  of 
men  and  animals?  Here,  too,  you  see  clearly  the  urgent 
need  of  an  immense  expenditure  by  the  central  government 
of  China,  before  the  proper  means  of  intercommunication 
can  be  had  for  unifying  the  nation. 

What  I  have  already  said  implies  that  the  great  need  of 
China  at  this  moment  is  a  strong  central  government.  The 
government  is  provisional.  The  elections  for  permanent 
officers  are  to  take  place  next  January.  Up  to  this  moment 
there  has  been  only  a  provisional  organization.  What  is 
its  nature?  They  call  it  a  repubUc;  but  it  is  a  republic  in  a 
sense  in  which  we  should  not  use  the  word.  It  is  a  republic 
based  in  the  first  place  on  a  very  limited  suffrage.  Nobody 
knows  how  many  persons  really  took  part  in  the  election  of 
the  first  assembly  which  met  at  Nanking,  or  in  that  of  the 
body  now  sitting  at  Pekin;  and  nobody  knows  accurately 
the  process  by  which  those  selections  were  made.  Secret 
societies  had  much  to  do  with  the  selections.  The  president 
is  not  a  republican  president  in  our  sense.  It  was  not  pos- 
sible that  he  should  be.  He  is  a  dictator  under  republican 
forms.  It  was  necessary  that  it  should  be  so.  It  is  not  to  be 
helped.  Not  until  the  next  elections  have  been  held  will  it 
be  possible  for  us  to  say  of  China  that  even  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment is  genuinely  republican. 


10  CHARLES   W.    ELIOT 

AMuMi  I  laiulod  in  China  nobody  knew  what  the  quahfica- 
tions  for  the  sulTrnge  wore  to  be.  I  asked  a  dozen  of  the 
oflk'ials  I  lirst  mot  what  they  thought  the  quaUfications  for 
the  suffrage  shoukl  be,  and  found  a  serious  division  of  opin- 
ion. The  majority  thought  that  the  quaUfications  should  be 
only  educational.  The  others  thought  that  there  should  be, 
as  in  Japan,  first  an  educational  qualification,  and  secondly, 
a  property  qualification.  At  the  same  moment  no  decision 
whate\er  had  been  reached  as  to  the  division  of  powers 
between  the  central  government  and  the  provincial  govern- 
ments. You  will  remember  that  one  of  the  most  serious 
diflTiculties  we  encountered  after  the  Revolutionary  War  was 
to  determine  the  division  of  powers  between  the  separate 
states  and  the  federal  government.  We  finally  obtained  in 
our  constitution  a  strict  definition  of  that  division.  Unfor- 
tunately we  did  not  make  so  good  a  one  as  our  neighbor 
Canada  made  not  long  afterward. 

A  strong  central  government  is  indispensable  to  unifica- 
tion. The  government  is  not  strong.  No  government  can 
be  strong  that  has  no  revenue;  and  when  I  asked  the  then 
premier  what  dependable  income  the  Republic  had,  he 
mentioned  but  one  item,  namely,  the  receipts  from  the 
government  monopoly  of  salt,  and  he  immediately  added 
that  the  government  manufacture  of  salt  was  badly  con- 
ducted, that  the  salt  was  dirty  and  impure,  containing  many 
ingredients  it  should  not  contain,  and  that  the  manufacture 
would  have  to  be  reformed.  That  reform  will  take  at  least 
a  year,  and  probably  more;  and  it  might  be  added  that  salt 
is  one  of  the  worst  sources  of  revenue  that  has  ever  been 
resorted  to;  for  it  bears  as  heavily  on  the  poorest  as  on  the 
richest. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  its  poverty  the  republican  gov- 
ernment is  gaining  strength  all  the  time.  It  has  repressed 
the  early  disorders,  opened  again  all  existing  means  of  com- 
munication, advanced  through  discussion  the  adoption  of  a 
permanent  constitution,  reorganized  the  government  bureaus 
at  Pekin,  detached  the  government  from  the  ancient  popular 
superstitutions,  aboHshed  the  former  official  ceremonials, 
proclaimed  religious  toleration,  and  helped  to  free  the  people 


THE   MEANS   OF   UNIFYING   CHINA  11 

from  inconvenient  or  injurious  customs  like  the  wearing  of 
the  queue  and  the  binding  of  girls'  feet.  It  has  made  a 
large  number  of  projects  for  great  improvements  in  the  pub- 
he  services  and  in  education.  It  cannot  carry  out  these 
projects  until  it  has  a  revenue.  Think  how  little  the  Man- 
chu  Empire,  which  has  been  governing  China  for  centuries, 
left  to  the  Republic!  No  elements  of  a  strong  government 
were  transmitted  from  the  Empire  to  the  new  government; 
no  army,  no  na\'y,  no  school  system,  no  national  system  of 
taxation,  no  courts  or  pohce  of  national  quality.  Indeed, 
the  Manchu  Empire  transmitted  to  the  Republic  no  govern- 
ment organization  whatever.  It  was  not  a  real  government 
in  the  modern  sense.  It  has  not  been  for  centuries.  If  the 
Republic,  or  the  revolutionary  movement,  had  done  noth- 
ing else  except  to  rid  China  of  the  Manchus,  it  would  have 
fully  justified  its  coming  into  existence.  The  deliverance  of 
China  from  the  Manchus  was  a  necessary  step  to  the  coming 
of  China  into  the  group  of  great  nations.  The  Republic 
gives  promise  of  organizing  a  strong  government  if  it  can 
have  as  much  time  as  we  had  in  our  country  to  organize  the 
government  which  has  conducted  our  national  affairs  since 
1789.  It  took  us  thirteen  years  with  all  our  experience 
of  local  government,  with  all  our  fighting  quality,  with  all 
our  trading  experience.  It  took  us  thirteen  years  with  a 
comparatively  homogeneous  people,  and  with  a  common 
language  and  a  common  reUgion.  China  will  need  at  least 
as  long  a  period  of  reconstruction;  and  the  western  world 
ought  to  stand  by  China  with  patience,  forbearance,  and 
hope,  while  she  struggles  with  her  tremendous  social,  in- 
dustrial, and  political  problems. 

But  you  will  be  thinking  that  all  the  considerations  I 
have  thus  far  adduced,  and  all  these  means  of  unifying 
China,  have  a  very  material  look.  They  do  indeed  relate 
to  language,  means  of  transportation,  and  the  organization 
of  government  agencies  for  carrying  on  the  business  of  the 
people;  and  it  is  quite  true  that  nations  cannot  be  unified 
by  such  means  alone.  Nations  are  unified,  and  come  to  be 
strong  moral  units  by  common  sentiments,  feelings,  and 
passions ;  and  the  first  of  those  sentiments  is  that  of  national- 


12  CHARLES   W.    ELIOT 

ity,  the  fcelinp;  of  belonging  to  one  group  of  kindred,  sym- 
patlietic,  united  people.  You  may  have  a  small  nation 
aninijited  by  this  sentiment,  or  an  immense  nation  filled 
with  the  same  spirit.  Within  the  last  twenty-five  years 
among  her  widespread  people  with  little  means  of  conununi- 
eation,  China  has  developed  in  the  educated  class  an  intense 
feeling  of  nationality;  and  it  has  proved  in  the  end  that  this 
sentiment  of  the  educated  class  was  capable  of  being  com- 
municated to  the  uneducated  in  numberless  millions.  The 
secret  societies  which  developed,  fostered,  and  brought  about 
the  Revolution  found  it  possible  to  enUst  over  a  million  men 
in  the  revolutionary  levies.  Many  of  these  men  were 
coolies,  mechanics,  and  farmers;  but  they  were  capable  of 
feeling  intensely  the  sentiment  of  nationality,  which  had 
sprung  up  in  the  breasts  of  the  educated  few.  The  Chinese 
are  an  Oriental  race,  and  they  have  now  a  full  sense  of  Orien- 
tal nationalism  as  distinguished  from  Occidental.  They 
have  been  roused  by  the  sight  of  another  Oriental  race  close 
beside  them  suddenly  developing  a  tremendous  force  in  the 
broad  world — West  as  well  as  East — and  asserting  the  right 
to  control  by  force  Oriental  regions  which  did  not  originally 
belong  to  them.  In  short,  they  have  had  before  them  the 
example  of  Japan.  That  example  has  stirred  deeply  all  the 
Oriental  peoples;  and  it  is  impossible  to  see  now  how  far  that 
influence  is  going.  It  is  plainly  to  be  seen  in  India,  and  far 
beyond. 

The  foreign  visitor  in  China  recognizes  several  types  of 
face  and  figure  in  the  population,  yet  does  not  see  in  these 
diversities  any  strong  racial  differences;  but  the  Chinese 
themselves  count  five  races  in  China,  and  have  put  five 
stripes  of  color  into  their  new  flag.  These  are,  however, 
kindred  races,  closely  aUied  in  origin  and  history.  That  is 
a  very  important  fact  with  regard  to  the  creation  of  this 
spirit  of  nationality.  The  Orient  teaches  the  world  that  the 
pure  race  is  the  best;  that  crosses  between  unlike  races  seldom 
turn  out  well;  and  everybody  knows  that  the  cross  between 
any  Oriental  stock  and  any  European  stock  is  regarded 
as  unsuccessful  throughout  the  Orient.  Japan  illustrates  the 
value  of  a  race  kept  pure.     Wherever  the  Japanese  go  as 


THE   MEANS   OF   UNIFYING   CHINA  13 

colonizers  they  keep  their  race  pure.  No  European  race 
has  done  that.  On  the  contrary,  the  white  race  transported 
to  the  East  has  mixed  with  every  native  race  it  has  encoun- 
tered. It  is  the  Oriental  that  has  demonstrated  the  advan- 
tages of  race  purity. 

Not  only  are  the  Chinese  people  penetrated  with  this 
spirit  of  nationality,  they  have  been  imbued  with  a  fervent 
sentiment  of  patriotism.  This,  too,  has  originated  in  China 
with  the  educated  class,  and  particularly  with  the  young  men 
who  in  recent  years  have  been  educated  in  Europe,  America, 
and  Japan.  It  was  they  who  started  the  Revolution.  Older 
people  prepared  it.  Older  people  nursed  it  for  nearly  a  gen- 
eration; but  it  was  fired  by  the  Chinese  youth,  educated  in 
other  countries.  I  have  never  seen  anywhere  better  evi- 
dences of  a  widespread  and  intense  sentiment  of  patriotism 
than  I  saw  in  China. 

Such  are  the  chief  means  of  unification  for  China.  But 
consider  for  a  moment  what  the  obstacles  are  which  this 
new  government,  now  without  any  adequate  resources, 
has  to  overcome. 

In  the  first  place,  as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  the  Man- 
chu  Empire  left  nothing  at  all  to  the  Republic.  I  suppose 
that  example  is  almost,  if  not  quite,  unique  in  the  world. 
We  have  seen  in  Europe  many  transitions  from  one  form  of 
government  to  another,  from  one  government  to  another. 
We  are  ourselves  used  to  a  transition  every  four  or  eight 
years,  when  the  whole  structure  of  government,  with  all  its 
powers,  is  transmitted  from  one  administration  to  another. 
Here  is  a  case  where  an  old  empire  went  out,  was  extin- 
guished, without  transmitting  anything  of  government 
organization  or  structure  to  its  successor.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  poverty  of  China  is  a  terrible  obstacle  to 
be  overcome.  It  is  poor  not  only  in  the  sense  that  the  gov- 
ernment is  poor,  or  has  no  resources,  but  that  the  whole 
population  is  poor.  Under  despotic  government  no  people 
ever  lays  up  any  capital.  That  is  one  of  the  uniform  fail- 
ures of  despotic  government.  Neither  life  nor  property 
is  safe  under  despotic  government,  and  never  has  been. 
In  China  the  rich  man  was  always  liable  to  be  "squeezed" 


14  CHARLES   W.    ELIOT 

by  any  official  who  discovered  that  he  was  rich.  The 
(liinese  who  liave  become  rich  in  Singapore  and  Penang  do 
not  dare  to  take  their  property  home.  They  have  given 
most  generously  to  the  cause  of  the  Revolution;  but  they 
dare  not  take  their  properties  home,  because  they  believe 
that  the  property  acquired  with  pain  in  foreign  countries 
will  be  unsafe  in  China.  Therefore  there  is  no  considerable 
amount  of  capital  in  China;  and  in  this  lack  of  accumulated 
savings  Cliina  must  borrow  from  outside,  borrow  from  the 
western  countries  where  capital  has  accumulated  in  huge 
amounts.  The  poverty  of  the  Republic  is  the  first  obstacle 
to  be  o\'ercome. 

Then  comes  the  dependence  of  China  on  the  six  powers 
that  are  sitting  round  about  her  and  on  her,  each  one  except 
the  United  States  really  longing  for  a  piece  of  China.  What 
is  the  defence  of  China  against  that  fear,  that  apprehension? 
Just  the  jealousy  of  one  power  toward  another,  or  toward 
all  the  others.  We  are  not  liable  to  the  accusation  of  self- 
interest  and  jealousy,  because  we  want  nothing  in  China 
in  the  way  of  a  "concession,"  a  piece  of  territory,  or  a  sphere 
of  influence;  but  all  the  other  five  powers  want  harbors,  free 
access  to  the  multitudinous  Chinese  with  the  products  of 
western  factories,  and  free  opportunities  for  the  profitable 
investment  of  western  capital.  Now  that  dependence  is  a 
fearful  trial  to  all  Chinese  statesmen,  to  all  Chinese  lovers  of 
their  country.  What  escape  from  that  dependence?  No 
escape,  except  the  invention  of  a  national  system  of  taxation 
which  will  yield  promptly  an  adequate  national  annual 
revenue.  That  way  lies  the  only  escape  from  the  dependent 
condition  of  China.  How  can  such  a  system  be  established? 
Not  by  any  action  of  the  Chinese  themselves  unaided. 
There  are  no  men  in  China  competent  for  that  task;  no 
Chinese  have  been  trained  competent  to  establish  such  a 
revenue  for  the  government.  Therefore,  foreign  advice  is 
indispensable.  It  must  be  disinterested  advice;  it  must  not 
come  through  advisers  thrust  upon  them  by  any  one  of  the 
six  powers.  It  must  be  advice  given  by  foreigners  employed 
by  the  Chinese  government  itself  as  its  servants.  One  of  the 
most   difficult   problems   before   the   Chinese   government 


THE    MEANS    OF    UNIFYING    CHINA  15 

today  is,  how  to  obtain  disinterested  foreign  advisers  for  its 
service.  It  is  encouraging  that  they  have  found  one  suitable 
adviser,  Dr.  George  Ernest  Morrison,  a  great  friend  of  the 
Chinese  people,  a  liberal,  open-minded  British  subject,  long 
resident  in  China,  the  collector  of  a  unique  library  of  books 
on  China,  and  himself  master  of  the  library.  There  is  a 
good  beginning  made.  It  is  a  great  puzzle  for  the  educated 
Chinese  themselves  how  they  can  select  the  expert  foreign 
advisers  they  reluctantly  admit  to  be  indispensable.  One 
of  the  cabinet  said  to  me,  ''We  Chinese  cannot  select  the 
right  kind  of  foreign  adviser  by  looking  at  him  and  talking 
with  him.  We  have  difficulty  in  discerning  the  character  of 
a  western  person  in  his  face  and  manner.  His  manners  are 
sure  to  be  different  from  what  we  call  good  manners;  and  we 
cannot  judge  by  the  aspect,  speech,  and  bearing  of  the  foreign 
person  whether  he  possesses  the  needed  qualities  of  integrity 
and  good  judgment."  I  have  heard  a  good  many  Occidental 
gentlemen  say  the  same  thing  about  judging  the  quality  of 
Chinese  gentlemen.  We  feel  quite  alike,  Orientals  and 
Occidentals,  on  that  subject. 

What,  then,  are  the  grounds  of  hope  for  the  Republic? 
How  many  Americans,  Englishmen,  and  Scotchmen  I  met 
in  China  who  had  no  hope  at  all  for  the  Republic!  How 
many  who  had  really  regretted  the  departure  of  the  Man- 
chus?  I  met  several  eminent  diplomats  who  until  the  middle 
of  April  had  hoped  that  the  Manchus  might  return  to  power, 
and  had  done  everything  in  their  power  to  bring  about  that 
return;  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of  April  that  the  diplo- 
matic corps  at  Pekin  made  up  their  minds  that  the  Manchus 
had  gone  forever.  They  were  taken  wholly  by  surprise 
by  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  and  for  months  they 
believed  that  the  Manchus  could  head  a  limited  monarchy 
with  constitutional  adjuncts.  Now  the  most  difficult  form 
of  government  to  set  up  and  carry  on  is  a  constitutional 
monarchy.  It  is  vastly  more  difficult  than  to  set  up  a  repub- 
lic, or  a  dictatorship  with  republican  forms.  Nevertheless, 
a  great  majority  of  the  diplomats,  consuls,  and  foreign  mer- 
chants and  barristers  in  China  believed  and  hoped  it  would 
be  possible  to  create  in  China  a  constitutional  monarchy 


l(i  CHARLES   W.    ELIOT 

after  the  Manchiis  had  abdicated.  There  are  many  foreign- 
ers now  resident  in  China  who  cannot  bring  themselves  to 
believe  that  it  is  possible  for  a  republic,  even  with  a  closely 
restricted  sutTrage,  to  be  carried  on  in  China.  What  ground 
is  tliere  for  supposing,  or  imagining,  that  a  republican  form 
of  government  can  be  set  up  in  China  and  be  made  stable? 
To  my  thinking,  there  is  in  the  quality  of  the  Chinese 
people  as  a  wliole  strong  ground  for  holding  to  that  hope. 
The  Chinese  people  have  come  through  every  possible 
struggle  with  adverse  nature,  and  every  possible  suffer- 
ing from  despotic  government;  they  have  come  through 
recurrent  floods,  droughts,  and  famines;  they  have  been 
subject  without  defence  not  only  to  the  sweeping  pesti- 
lences like  small-pox,  cholera,  and  the  plague,  but  to  all  the 
ordinary  contagious  diseases,  to  tuberculosis,  and  to  all  the 
fevers.  Yet  here  they  are  by  unknown  hundreds  of 
millions,  tough,  industrious,  frugal,  honest,  and  fecund. 
One  hears  of  dishonest  (at  least,  foreigners  use  that  word 
in  speaking  of  them)  officials;  but  one  seldom  hears  of  a 
common  Chinese  man  who  is  dishonest.  They  are  notori- 
ously honest  in  trade,  in  dealing  with  each  other,  and  even 
with  foreigners.  They  seem  not  to  be  liable  to  the  alcoholic 
temptation,  and  as  a  rule  are  peaceably  inclined,  although 
liable,  like  some  other  peoples,  to  be  transported  by  gre- 
garious passions,  superstititions,  and  panics.  Now  these 
are  solid  moral  qualities  in  the  Chinese.  Their  virtues  are 
great,  and  high,  and  deep.  Moreover,  they  have  a  produc- 
ing value  which  is  wonderful.  They  get  everything  possible 
out  of  the  soil  of  China;  and  as  a  Western-trained,  refined 
Chinese  woman  physician  said  to  me  in  Tientsin,  a  woman 
who  has  been  through  everything  that  a  woman  can  endure, 
and  is  now  practising  her  profession  in  the  midst  of  the  Chi- 
nese poverty  and  desolation,  "Here  we  are,  poor,  sufTering, 
but  indomitable!"  Here  is  the  ground  for  believing  that 
it  may  be  possible  to  create  a  free  government  in  China. 
After  all,  the  real  foundations  of  free  government  all  over 
the  world  lie  in  the  character  of  the  people.  They  must 
deserve  to  be  free. 


THE   MEANS   OF   UNIFYING   CHINA  17 

For  an  old  American  who  has  seen  a  good  many 
changes  of  public  feeling  at  home,  and  has  seen  a  large 
number  of  alien  races  come  into  his  own  country  by 
the  milHon,  it  is  impossible  not  to  sympathize  profoundly 
with  the  present  huge  effort  of  the  Chinese  people.  It  is 
impossible  for  a  visiting  American  with  any  experience  in 
administration  and  its  normal  difficulties  not  to  sympa- 
thize with  these  few  men  who  have  taken  their  lives  in 
their  hands  and  risked  their  whole  careers,  and  are  try- 
ing to  build  up  a  free  government  in  China.  Who  could 
fail  to  sympathize  with  men  in  such  a  dangerous  position, 
trying  to  do  this  immense  service  to  such  a  people?  And 
yet  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  lay  representatives  of  the 
western  peoples,  the  Occidentals  living  in  China,  diplomatic, 
consular,  commercial,  or  industrial,  have  seldom  manifested 
during  the  past  year  genuine  sympathy  with  this  immense 
effort  on  the  part  of  a  few  hundred  thousand  men  out  of  the 
huge  population  of  China.  It  is  very  possible,  indeed,  com- 
mon, for  a  foreign  merchant  to  remain  a  whole  generation  in 
China  and  never  make  the  acquaintance  of  a  single  Chinese 
gentleman,  or  indeed,  of  any  Chinese  above  the  grade  of  a 
house-servant,  a  porter,  or  a  clerk.  An  English  merchant, 
who  had  been  conducting  thirty-five  years  a  successful, 
widespread  business  in  China,  told  me  that  he  did  not  know 
a  single  word  of  Chinese,  or  a  single  Chinese  man  except  his 
compradore.  Hundreds  of  foreigners  in  China  live  there 
for  many  years  without  making  the  acquaintance  of  a  single 
Chinese  lady  or  gentleman.  In  the  middle  of  the  city  of 
Tientsin  in  the  British  concession  is  a  small  municipal  gar- 
den. On  the  gates  of  the  garden  there  was  posted  until  the 
Revolution  had  been  some  months  in  progress  the  following 
notice:  "No  Chinese  or  dogs  allowed."  The  secretary 
of  the  two  municipal  councils  in  Tientsin,  an  admirable 
Scotchman  who  has  lived  there  many  years,  told  me  that 
that  notice  had  been  on  those  gates  during  his  entire  resi- 
dence in  Tientsin,  and  that  the  practice  continued,  although 
the  notice  had  been  withdrawn.  In  the  clubs  organized  and 
resorted  to  by  English,  Americans,  and  other  foreigners  in 


18  CHARLES   W.    ELIOT 

the  Chinese  cities,  no  Chinese  person  is  eligible  for  member- 
ship. Think  what  that  impUes  concerning  the  probable 
ignorance  of  tlie  Occidental  resident  in  China  concerning  the 
Chinese  people,  their  qualities,  their  hopes,  and  their  aspira- 
tions. The  western  people  in  China  who  really  know  some- 
thing about  the  Chinese  are  the  missionaries,  teachers,  and 
other  foreigners  who  go  to  China,  and  stay  there,  with  some 
philanthropic  purpose,  or  hope  of  doing  good.  They  get  into 
real  contact  and  friendly  relations  with  the  Chinese,  both 
educated  and  uneducated.  One  must  not  be  surprised, 
therefore,  if  one  finds  among  foreign  business  men  who  have 
lived  in  China  only  the  most  superficial  acquaintance  with 
Chinese  conditions  and  qualities.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
great  confidence  which  foreign  merchants  and  bankers  in 
China  exhibit  in  their  Chinese  cashiers  and  agents  is  a 
strong  testimony  to  the  fidelity  and  honesty  of  that  class  of 
Chinese  employees.  Knowledge  of  the  Chinese  language  is 
all-important  to  make  intercourse  between  Chinese  and 
foreigners  profitable  and  helpful.  Failing  that,  English  is 
the  best  language  to  use.  I  have  seen  two  Chinese  gentle- 
men, one  from  the  north  and  the  other  from  the  south,  give 
up  trying  to  make  themselves  mutually  understood  in  Chi- 
nese, and  take  to  English  as  their  means  of  communication. 
There  they  were  successful.  The  foreign  missionaries,  both 
clerical  and  medical,  and  the  foreign  teachers  learn  something 
of  the  Chinese  language,  and  so  win  access  to  the  Chinese 
mind  and  heart. 

I  believe  I  have  put  before  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
some  of  the  difficulties,  obstacles,  and  apprehensions  which 
beset  the  path  of  this  wonderful  Revolution.  I  hope  I 
have  also  suggested  to  your  minds  the  hopes  and  reasonable 
expectations  we  may  cherish.  My  journey  c;ave  me  the 
most  interesting  stay  in  a  foreign  country  that  I  ever  had, 
or  indeed  ever  expect  to  have.  I  could  not  have  arrived  in 
China  at  a  more  interesting  epoch,  if  I  had  had  my  choice 
over  two  thousand  years;  and  we  all  are  li\dng  in  a  time  when 
an  intelligent  interest  in  the  affairs  of  China  will  add  not 
only  to  the  breadth  of  our  sympathies  but  to  the  enlarge- 
ment of  our  hopes  and  expectations  for  mankind. 


THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  UPON  THE 
RELATIONS  BETWEEN  CHINA  AND  THE 
UNITED  STATES 

By  Ching-Chun  Wang,  Ph.D.,  Assistant-Director  of  the  Peking- 
Mukden  Railway,  Delegate  from  the  Republic  of  China 
to  the  recent  International  Congress  of  Chambers 
of  Commerce 

The  Chinese  people,  heretofore  silent  and  submissive, 
rose  up  so  suddenly  and  simultaneously  last  year,  that  even 
careful  observers  were  totally  surprised.  What  was  even 
more  unexpected  was  the  incredible  brevity  and  unparal- 
leled bloodlessness  of  the  Revolution.  In  less  than  one- 
third  of  a  year,  they  have  removed  a  monarchial  system 
which  had  been  regarded  as  unremovable,  and  introduced  a 
democratic  government  which  has  stood  the  test  during  the 
most  dangerous  period  of  the  last  eleven  months.  They 
have  done  all  this  with  a  moderation  and  sanity  which  have 
never  been  paralleled,  thus  setting  a  new  standard  in  the 
fighting  and  winning  of  revolutions  by  peaceful  methods. 

What  is  going  to  be  the  effect  of  this  upheaval  upon  the 
relations  between  the  two  largest  nations  on  the  Pacific? 
This  question  concerns  us  especially,  for  upon  it  largely 
depends  the  greatness  of  the  one,  the  stability  of  the  other, 
and  the  prosperity  of  both. 

In  order  to  ascertain  this  effect,  we  may  first  of  all  examine 
what  this  great  change  means.  It  has  been  repeatedly 
said  that  one  of  the  most  certain  results  of  the  Revolution 
will  be  the  increase  of  China's  foreign  trade.  In  spite  of  all 
sorts  of  drawbacks,  this  trade  has  already  reached  the  enor- 
mous proportion  of  870  million  taels^  in  1910,  as  against 
455  million  ten  years  ago.  In  other  words,  even  behind 
closed  doors,  this  trade  has  increased  almost  100  per  cent 
during  the  short  space  of  a  decade.      Enormous  as  this 

1  A  tael  equals  about  75  cents  in  American  money. 

19 


20  CHING-CHUN   WANG 

foreign  tr;uU'  may  appear,  it  only  represents  two  taels, 
or  one  dollar  and  a  half  per  capita  per  year,  which  may  easily 
be  increased  to  five  billion  taels,  if  every  Chinese  consumes 
only  one-half  as  much  as  each  of  his  eastern  neighbors,  the 
Japanese.  Therefore,  we  can  see  from  all  available  signs 
that  there  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  this  phenomenal  increase 
of  foreign  trade  will  soon  take  place. 

Side  by  side  with  commerce,  China's  industries  will  ad- 
vance. She  will  bend  every  effort  to  utilize  the  enormous 
latent  power  of  the  millions  and  millions  of  her  laborers  for 
the  development  of  her  unlimited  resources.  When  we 
recall  that  each  one  of  these  millions  of  the  so-called  coolies, 
who  now  idles  his  time  away  and  proves  to  be  a  burden  to 
society,  on  account  of  lack  of  productive  occupation,  has  in 
him  not  only  the  power  of  making  a  comfortable  living  for 
himself  and  his  family,  but  of  adding  a  considerable  share  to 
the  sum  total  of  the  wealth  of  the  nation,  if  he  is  only  given 
a  fair  chance  to  work,  we  may  then  have  some  idea  of  what 
these  teeming  millions  mean.  As  the  United  States  is 
gifted  by  nature  with  the  inexhaustible  power  of  Niagara  and 
other  falls,  so  China  is  no  less  blessed  by  God  in  having  an 
equal,  if  not  more  precious  amount  of  power  in  her  immense 
industrious  population.  TVTiat  China  is  now  trying  to  do  is 
to  turn  these  millions  to  account,  so  that  the  misery  and 
sufferings  of  which  we  have  heard  so  much,  may  be  changed 
into  happiness  and  content,  not  by  charity  from  outside  but 
by  making  use  of  the  worth  of  these  sufferers  themselves. 
The  railroads — thousands  and  thousands  of  miles  of  them — 
must  soon  be  built.  Following  the  railway,  the  mines,  which 
are  not  only  extraordinarily  rich  but  almost  numberless, 
must  be  opened.  Industries  will  in  turn  spring  up.  For- 
ests will  be  developed  and  agriculture  modernized.  In 
short,  China  will  be  completely  transformed. 

Side  by  side  with  this  material  development,  moral  and 
religious  advancement  will  also  engage  our  attention.  In- 
deed, from  what  the  writer  has  seen  and  heard,  he  feels 
justified  in  saying  that  more  effort  will  be  devoted  to  the 
elevation  of  the  moral  and  ethical  standards  of  the  people 
from  now  on  than  ever  before,  and  that  the  belief  in  a  single 


RELATIONS   BETWEEN   CHINA   AND   UNITED   STATES      21 

Deity  will  be  more  rigorously  revived,  and  eventually 
adopted  as  the  dominating,  if  not  the  only,  belief  in  China. 
This  may  sound  impossible;  but  we  must  remember  that  the 
Chinese  are  a  practical  people,  and  that  they  are  already 
beginning  to  see  that  there  is  no  other  religion  which  is  more 
enlightening  and  practical  than  true  Christianity.  More- 
over, true  Christianity,  more  than  any  other  religion,  agrees 
with  Confucianism.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  these  two  doctrines  ■ 
can  well  be  moulded  together  so  as  to  be  mutually  helpful. 
Christianity  suppHes  the  part  which  Confucius  has  omitted, 
while  Confucianism,  in  China  at  least,  could  render  Christian- 
ity not  only  easier  to  understand,  but  more  up  to  date  in 
every  day  life.  The  idea  of  God  has  been  repeatedly,  though 
vaguely,  emphasized  in  the  teachings  which  constitute  Con- 
fucianism. Again  and  again,  we  find  passages  in  the  ancient 
books  which  refer  to  the  Almighty  as  being  omnipotent  and 
omnipresent.  By  careful  interpretation  and  with  due  notice 
of  the  difference  in  the  religious  temperament  of  the  Chinese 
and  in  the  characteristics  of  expression  in  the  Far  East, 
the  true  lovers  of  God  could  take  advantage  of  the  present 
change  to  Christianize  China  while  the  scientists  and  engi- 
neers are  "materializing"  her. 

We  said  a  moment  ago  true  Christianity,  because,  like 
everything  else,  Christianity  could  be  made  to  mean  differ- 
ent things  to  suit  various  occasions,  according  to  the  degree 
of  man's  emotions  or  other  circumstances.  The  apparently 
mechanical  worship  taking  place  all  day  and  all  over  the 
streets  in  Russia  does  not  seem  to  be  the  same  thing  as  that 
shown  by  some  of  the  reverent  prayers  offered  in  some  of  the 
churches  elsewhere,  and  yet  both  are  called  Christianity. 
The  heartless  religious  massacres  of  the  middle  ages,  of  which 
more  than  one  sect  were  guilty,  do  not  appear  to  be  much 
more  justifiable  than  the  massacres  recently  reported  to  be 
taking  place  in  Constantinople,  and  yet  we  understand  they 
all  were  inspired  by  religious  devotion  and  for  Christian  pur- 
poses. Therefore,  we  say  true  Christianity,  for  we  do  not 
need  any  more  Christian  superstitions  in  China  than  we  need 
any  other  kind  of  superstitions.  True  Christianity  must  be 
that  which  only  aims  at  the  promotion  of  filial  piety  to  God 


22  CHING-CHUN   WANG 

and  jidod  followsliip  among  men.  Anything  that  conflicts 
with  tliis,  to  the  writer  at  least,  is  not  true  Christianity. 
Therefore,  we  say  true  Christianity  harmonizes,  rather  than 
conflicts,  with  Confucianism.  The  former  attitude,  harbored 
by  some,  of  implacable  hostility  to  all  religions,  ethics  and 
philosophy  otlier  than  Christian,  and  the  persistent  ignoring 
of  the  virtuous  traditions  and  elevating  customs  which  have 
ac(|uirod  the  dignity  of  venerable  antiquity,  is  injurious  to 
true  C^hristianity  itself;  for  such  an  attitude  of  disparaging 
one,  deriding  another  and  sneering  at  everything  else  that  is 
found  in  the  country,  incurs  the  risk  of  defeating  the  very 
oV)jcct  which  Christianity  itself  aims  to  attain.  Indeed, 
such  dogmatic  efforts  are  liable  to  disintegrate  the  present 
social  fabric  and  bring  about  the  collapse  of  the  existing 
morality  without,  or  at  least  before,  firmly  establishing  a 
proper  substitute.  Therefore,  it  is  only  by  an  enlightened 
method,  that  Christianity  may  be  made  to  bear  its  proper 
share  of  fruit  of  blessing  in  the  regeneration  of  China,  while 
by  continued  dogmatism,  we  can  only  reap  thorny  disputes. 

I  have  spent  so  much  time  on  the  question  of  religion  for 
I  beUeve  that  in  the  regeneration  of  China,  material  as  well 
as  moral  and  spiritual  advancement  must  go  side  by  side. 
"VMiat  has  saved  China  from  disintegration  during  all  these 
centuries  and  enabled  her  to  stand  the  test  of  age  is  not 
material  prosperity  alone,  much  less  military  prowess,  but 
her  sacred  inheritance  of  integrity  in  business,  her  unpar- 
alleled love  of  home  and  her  tradition  of  avoiding  going  to 
extremes.  In  acquiring  what  is  good  in  the  western  civiliza- 
tion, we  shall  endeavor  to  keep  what  is  good  in  the  civiliza- 
tion of  our  own. 

Therefore,  what  we  are  aiming  at  now  is  to  remove  all 
defects  in  law  or  custom,  to  do  away  with  all  that  dwarfs 
knowledge  or  stifles  the  freedom  of  thought,  as  well  as  to 
clean  away  all  unworthy  elements  in  pride  of  race.  We 
want  to  remove  all  these  obstructions  to  progress,  and  change 
the  past  supercilious  contempt  for  Western  learning  and 
Western  help  into  enthusiastic  eagerness  and  genuine  respect. 
In  short,  we  want  to  make  a  complete  "house-cleaning"  so 
that  we  may  be  able  to  enjoy  our  own  inheritance  as  well  as 


RELATIONS    BETWEEN    CHINA   AND    UNITED    STATES        23 

to  contribute  our  share  to  the  world.  Instead  of  simply  hear- 
ing people  say  it  was  our  forefathers  that  first  made  gun- 
powder, invented  printing,  discovered  the  compass,  and  made 
many  other  useful  inventions  years  ago,  we  want  to  do  some- 
thing ourselves.  Many  may  have  reasonably  wondered  why 
the  Chinese  should  have  stopped  contributing  to  the  material 
advancement  of  the  world  after  their  early  and  marvelous 
start,  and  some  others  may  have  even  ridiculed  us  for  being 
unable  to  keep  up  the  record  made  by  oiu"  forefathers,  as 
shown  by  the  absence  of  further  important  material  contri- 
butions to  civiUzation.  We  admit  this  failure  with  regret, 
but  we  must  point  out  that  it  has  not  been  due  to  our  lack  of 
capability  but  to  its  strangulation  and  wrong  appUcation. 
We  have  made  little  material  advancement,  because  we  have 
been  applying  our  mind  and  energy  entirely  to  the  study  of 
certain  fossilized  classics  and  the  writing  of  a  certain  stereo- 
typed system  of  essays.  Think  of  what  America  could 
expect  if  she  should  make  all  her  students  study  nothing  but 
Shakespeare  and  use  the  ability  of  quoting  passages  from 
Cicero  or  Caesar  as  the  criterion  for  selecting  her  officials! 
And  yet,  with  few  exceptions,  that  has  been  actually  what 
China  has  been  doing  during  the  last  one  thousand  years. 
Even  our  severest  critics  will  understand  why  we  have  failed 
to  advance  materially  as  much  as  we  should,  when  they  know 
that  we  have  been  led  by  a  false  system  to  apply  our  intel- 
lects  and  energy  in  such  a  remorsefully  wrong  way. 

Some  may  ask,  why  has  China  not  found  out  earlier  that 
she  was  in  the  wrong  channel.  The  only  excuse  she  can  offer 
is  that  her  self-sufficiency  and  comparatively  high  level  of 
development,  reached  a  thousand  years  ago,  led  her  to  feel 
that  she  could  get  along  well  without  any  more  feverish 
struggles  for  material  advancement.  We  are  an  original 
race,  unmodified  and  unstrengthened  during  thousands  of 
years  by  the  introduction  of  any  foreign  blood.  We  have 
been  separated  and  segregated  from  all  of  the  growing  por- 
tions of  humanity  during  all  those  ages,  and  left  to  act  and 
react  upon  ourselves.  As  a  result,  we  have  obtained  a 
great  fixedness  in  our  own  characteristics.  We  are  said  to 
be  lacking  in  the  faculty  of  true  discrimination;  but  if  we 


24  CIIING-CIIUN   WANG 

were  it  is  because  we  have  long  been  deprived  of  all  opportu- 
nity to  compare  or  contrast  ourselves  with  equals,  much  less 
with  superiors.  We  refused  to  learn  from  others,  because  for 
centuries  we  had  been  in  contact  with  few  who  could  teach 
us.  ^^'e  are.  you  may  say,  too  closely  bred  and  rendered 
near-sighted  by  continually  gazing  upon  ourselves.  Our 
faculties  have  been  over-developed,  wrongly  developed,  and 
at  the  same  time,  perhaps,  under-developed.  We  acknowl- 
edge all  our  shortcomings  of  the  past;  but  we  cannot  yet 
admit  that  today  our  faculties  are  either  too  weak  or  too 
decadent.  To  the  contrary,  we  have  waked  up  and  are 
determined  to  go  forward  and  learn  from  all  others.  We 
may  appear  a  little  awkward  in  the  beginning  in  adapting 
ourselves  to  western  methods,  but  we  feel  certain  that  we 
can  make  progress  and  finally  catch  up.  All  that  we  need  is  a 
little  time  to  readjust  ourselves  to  the  new  order  of  things. 
With  a  reasonable  amount  of  help  from  our  friends,  and  tak- 
ing advantage  of  our  inheritance,  we  feel  we  shall  soon  be 
able,  not  only  to  take  care  of  ourselves,  but  to  contribute  to 
the  world  as  our  forefathers  did  of  old;  and  our  only  plea  is 
that  we  may  be  permitted  to  work  out  our  own  salvation. 
"WTiat  China  has  already  accomplished  only  proves  that 
she  is  able  to,  and  will  accomplish  more.  Within  the  short 
space  of  six  years,  and  under  almost  insurmountable  difficul- 
ties from  both  economic  drawbacks  within,  and  diplomatic 
hindrances  without,  she  has  practically  wiped  out  the  devil- 
ish habit  of  opium  smoking,  so  evil  in  its  effects  and  so  diffi- 
cult to  eradicate,  that  it  makes  all  other  kinds  of  habitual  vice 
seem  insignificant.^  She  has  made  unexpected  progi^ess  in 
the  abolition  of  the  time-honored  and  universal  fashion  of 
foot-binding,  and  has  almost  completed  the  removal  of  the 
queue.'  Moreover,  in  the  incredibly  short  time  of  forty- 
eight  horn's,  she  has  accomplished  the  well-nigh  impossible 
feat  of  changing  her  calendar  of  many  hundreds  of  years 
standing.     She  has  done  all  this  quietly,  modestly,  and  in  a 

2  Consult  also  the  author's  article  on  "How  China  is  Fighting  Against 
Opium"  in  The  World  Today  of  July,  1910. 

'  Also  see  the  author's  article  on  "The  Abolition  of  the  Queue"  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly  of  June,  1911. 


RELATIONS   BETWEEN   CHINA   AND    UNITED   STATES        25 

business  way.  What  China  wants  now  is  simply  a  chance 
to  enable  her  intellectual,  moral  and  material  inheritance, 
which  God  has  given  to  her  and  preserved  for  her  during  all 
these  ages,  to  improve  her  own  condition  as  well  as  to  con- 
tribute the  share  which  she  owes  others  in  solving  the  prob- 
lems which  are  now  disturbing  the  stability  of  mankind. 

The  Chinese  have  been  known  universally  for  their  superi- 
ority as  individuals  and  their  weakness  as  a  collective  body. 
Writers  say  that  the  backwardness  of  China  herself  has 
been  due  to  the  lack  of  cohesion  among  the  Chinese.  Indeed, 
most  of  the  struggles  which  China  had  heretofore  were 
fought,  not  by  China  as  a  whole,  but  by  three  or  four  of  her 
provinces.  Once  the  Chinese  millions  unite,  their  collective 
strength  will  be  increased  in  proportion  to  their  individual 
superiority.  If  the  recent  Revolution  has  done  nothing  else, 
it  has  created  a  unanimity  of  sentiment  and  a  feeling  of  one- 
ness among  the  Chinese  people.  When  the  cause  of  the  Rev- 
olution was  understood,  the  northerner  and  the  southerner, 
the  man  from  the  east  as  well  as  the  man  from  the  west,  all 
rushed  to  the  revolutionary  camps,  eager  to  fight  shoulder 
to  shoulder  and  ready  to  fall  side  by  side.  Indeed,  as  re- 
marked by  some  correspondents,  such  united  sentiment  has 
never  been  seen  in  China  before.  When  the  time  came  for 
a  compromise,  these  men  were  just  as  ready  to  lay  aside  all 
personal  considerations  for  the  safety  of  the  country  as  they 
were  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives  during  the  Revolution. 
The  unparalleled  self-denial  exemplified  by  ex-President 
Sun  and  others  in  removing  all  misunderstanding  and  in 
bringing  about  a  closer  union  between  the  north  and  the 
south,  are  but  typical  of  the  feeling  of  the  thinking  class. 
Indeed,  it  is  the  unprecedented  oneness  of  sentiment  of 
the  Chinese  people  that  has  brought  the  Revolution  to  such 
a  speedy  and  bloodless  end;  this  unison  of  feeling  is  bound 
to  grow  and  prove  instrumental  in  the  regeneration  of  the 
country. 

Therefore,  the  recent  change  has  brought  China  to  a 
point  where  she  can,  and  will,  no  longer  remain  the  Rip  Van 
Winkle  of  the  Far  East.  During  the  coming  generation,  she 
will,  to  use  the  common  expression,  have  either  to  make  or  to 


20  CHING-CHUN   WANG 

break.  A\'(^  may  see  that  selfishness  has  ah-eady  led  some 
of  tlio  powers  to  think  that  the  awakening  of  China  is  not  to 
their  ad\antage.  They  believe  it  is  to  their  interest  that 
China  sliould  sleep  always  and  remain  ignorant  eternally, 
so  that  they  may  satisfy  their  insatiable  lust  for  grabbing 
other  people's  land  and  property.  Indeed,  some  have 
already  begun  to  take  an  unfair  advantage  of  our  situation 
to  plunder,  and  have  advanced  arguments  to  justify  their 
nefarious  rascality  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  comment  seriously  upon  the  validity  of  their 
arguments,  since  Satan  never  has  any  difficulty  in  quoting 
the  Scripture,  when  he  finds  it  handy  for  his  devilish  schemes. 
Therefore,  we  hear  that  Russia  bases  her  claim  to  outer  Mon- 
golia upon  her  recent  discovery,  as  the  Russian  press  says, 
of  an  old  document,  somewhere  in  Siberia,  which  shows  that 
Mongolia  should  be  taken  away  from  China.'*  To  a  less 
degree,  England  also  seems  to  think  that  by  some  divine 
right,  she  has  a  claim  on  Tibet,  etc.  But  as  said  by  many 
impartial  observers  and  well-wishers  of  mankind,  these 
arguments  however  plausible  they  may  appear,  and  hke 
poetrj^,  however  elegant  they  may  seem  to  their  authors, 
are  not  only  false  and  unsound,  but  do  not  even  contain 
enough  substance  of  reason  to  disguise  or  conceal  their  real 
underlying  motives  of  outrageous  robbery. 

Some  of  these  vultures  have  been  lurking  around  us  for 
many  years,  and  are  now  becoming  more  impatient  than  ever 
before,  for  they  fear  that  now  may  be  their  last  chance.  On 
the  other  hand,  after  having  emancipated  themselves  by 
both  right  and  blood  from  the  imperiaUsm  of  the  Manchu 
Court,  the  Chinese  people  are  not  likely  to  suffer  the  imperial- 
ism of  the  Russians  or  any  other  people.  If  we  should  inherit 
the  foreign  debts  and  enormous  indemnities,  much  of  which 
was  iniquitously  imposed  upon  the  dissolved  Manchu  gov- 
ernment, as  the  powers  seem  to  take  it  for  granted  that  we 
do,  then  by  all  laws  of  mankind,  we  feel  we  should  also  inherit 
the  territories  which  were  not  only  indisputably  under  the 
Manchu    government,  but  have  been  rightfully  inherited 

*  See  Nineteenth  Century  Review  of  October,  1912. 


RELATIONS    BETWEEN    CHINA    AND    UNITED    STATES        27 

by  US  from  time  immemorial.  Even  filled  with  deliberate 
prejudice,  the  Russians  themselves  ought  to  know  by  con- 
science that  Mongolia  is  ours,  and  that  their  argument^  in 
claiming  that  territory  is  not  only  untenable,  but  ridiculous, 
or  even  childish,  when  Russia  herself  urges  that  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  same  Manchu  government  should  be  met  by 
the  Republic. 

Here  is  the  danger.  If  such  greedy  powers  should  pur- 
posely be  so  bUnd  to  the  truth  and  actually  take  an  undue 
advantage  of  our  situation  to  plunder,  and  should  the  true 
friends  of  China  be  misled  by  some  special  interests  to  silently 
approve  such  plundering,  they  would  only  arouse  the  wrath 
of  a  people  that  may  yet  be  able  to  protect  and  maintain 
what  is  right.  The  Chinese  today  feel  and  know  what 
belongs  to  them,  and  are  convinced  by  conditions  in  Siberia 
and  elsewhere  that  subjugation  by  a  foreign  power  only 
means  strangulation  of  all  possibilities  of  advancement, 
both  materially  and  otherwise.  They  can  tolerate  anything 
and  everything  but  further  grabbing  of  their  land.  There- 
fore, by  permitting  or  countenancing  these  powers  to  take  an 
unfair  advantage  to  slice  territory  from  China,  the  civilized 
nations  might  drive  the  Chinese  to  revenge  in  such  a  way  as 
to  turn  what  is  soon  to  become  a  great  ''hive  of  commerce" 
and  prosperity  into  a  cursed  land  of  carnage  and  "Boxer- 
ism"  as  well  as  to  endanger  the  peace  of  the  world  and  para- 
lyze the  advancement  of  mankind,  while  by  the  exertion  of 
a  due  amount  of  effort  to  maintain  international  justice  to 
China  during  this  period,  they  may  enable  the  Chinese 
people  soon  to  be  able  to  take  care  of  themselves  and  to 
contribute  a  great  share  to  the  promoting  of  honorable  peace 
among  nations  as  well  as  to  the  advancement  of  general 
human  happiness.  Today,  therefore,  is  the  time  when  the 
great  nations  like  the  United  States  can  either  make  the 
Chinese  millions  a  mighty  instrument  for  promoting  peace 
and  prosperity,  by  helping  them  to  make  their  intended 
progress,  or  else  they  can  drive  these  same  peace-loving 

°  Their  argument  is,  that  as  Mongolia  belonged  to  the  Manchu  govern- 
ment, therefore  it  is  free  of  China  when  the  Manchu  government  is  removed 
(see  Nineteenth  Century  Review  of  October,  1912). 


28  CHING-CHUN   WANG 

people,  contrary  to  their  will,  to  become  bloodthirsty  fiends 
for  revenge,  by  countenancing  the  pending  plunderings. 
Ought  the  Christian  powers,  above  all  the  United  States, 
to  stand  inert  and  see  the  vultures  swoop  upon  China  so 
soon  after  we  have  undergone  such  a  serious  "operation," 
and  made  a  successful  effort  to  recover  and  go  forward? 
Would  they  drive  us  to  desperate  recklessness  just  at  the  mo- 
ment when  we  begin  to  try  as  hard  as  we  can  to  carry  out  the 
very  reforms  and  accomplish  the  very  ends  which  their  own 
people  and  statesmen  have  been  trying  for  more  than  sixty 
years  to  drag  us  to  accomplish?  By  concerted  action,  not 
only  China  but  even  the  strongest  nation  in  the  world  could 
be  wiped  from  the  map!  In  this  enlightened  age  of  ours, 
should  all  nations  show  no  regard  for  the  common  right  of 
humanity,  and  ignore  the  just  claims  and  inalienable  inher- 
itances of  others?     Should  friendship  mean  words  alone? 

Of  course  we  understand  that  nations  are  not  benevolent 
institutions,  and  that  their  legitimate  object  is  to  promote 
the  interests  of  the  people  within  their  charge,  while  the 
protection  of  the  weak  or  the  uplift  of  mankind  are  said  to 
be  only  favorite  expressions  to  suit  certain  occasions.  But 
even  from  a  purely  selfish  point  of  view,  we  can  also  see  that 
it  is  of  mutual  and  unquaUfied  advantage  that  the  two  sister 
Repubhcs  should  become  closer  and  more  sympathetic 
toward  each  other.  Their  aims,  aspirations,  needs,  resources 
and  many  other  characteristics,  are  extraordinarily  harmoni- 
ous and  cooperating.  All  observers  agree  that  the  chief,  if 
not  the  only,  aim  of  the  United  States,  is  to  develop  com- 
merce. As  said  IVIr.  John  Foord,  the  able  secretary  of  the 
Asiatic  Society,  the  whole  purpose  of  American  diplomacy 
in  China  has  been  the  furtherance  of  trade.®  American 
statesmen,  business  experts  and  veteran  writers,  have  again 
and  again  emphasized  the  importance  of  the  Chinese  market. 
It  certainly  cguld  not  be  of  advantage  to  the  American  people 
as  a  whole,  should  China  be  Russianized  or  even  remain 
weak. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Chinese  have  made  it  long  since 
clear  that  they  welcome  America's  trade,  and  that,  with 

•  G.  H.  Blakeslee:  China  and  the  Far  East,  p.  114. 


RELATIONS   BETWEEN   CHINA   AND   UNITED    STATES        29 

their  own  wholesome  traditions  and  unlimited  inheritance, 
they  can  certainly  prove  of  considerable  value  and  assistance 
to  America,  at  least  in  this  matter  of  commerce.  Sending 
your  first  ship  of  trade  to  China  in  1784,  the  American 
merchant  has  from  the  outset  obtained  a  good  footing.'' 
By  leaps  and  bounds  this  trade  has  continued  to  grow  until 
today  it  is  second  only  to  that  of  Great  Britain  and  Japan, 
with  a  good  prospect  of  catching  up  with  both. 

The  existing  trade  of  America,  which  is  already  approach- 
ing one  hundred  million  taels  a  year,  is  but  a  small  fraction 
of  what  may  be  expected  to  follow  the  opening  up  of  the 
country.  Those  who  know  what  possibilities  lie  in  China's 
trade  say  that  to  increase  the  present  figure  ten  times  is  but 
an  easy  matter,  and  that  America  should  soon  be  able  to 
compete  even  with  Great  Britain  for  the  lion's  share,  if 
American  merchants  will  only  go  after  that  trade  which 
lies  at  their  feet.  Instead  of  the  former  closed  doors  which 
American  statesmen  tried  so  hard,  for  many  years,  to  ham- 
mer through,  today  the  whole  country  is  ready  to  open. 
The  Chinese  are  not  only  willing,  but  anxious  to  trade  with 
America,  for  they  know  that  she  does  not  grab  their  land 
under  the  cover  of  trade  or  Christianity,  and  they  also  feel 
that  the  wider  the  sphere  of  mercantile  relations  between 
China  and  the  United  States,  the  more  intimate  the  two 
countries  will  become.  The  writer  is  happy  to  say  that  the 
high  type  of  business  men  of  both  China  and  the  United 
States  is  going  to  contribute  no  small  share  to  the  unparal- 
leled good  relations  between  these  two  countries.  The 
recent  contact  with  so  many  leading  business  men  of  this 
country  during  the  writer's  tour  from  Boston  to  San  Fran- 
cisco impresses  him  vividly  with  their  sterling  worth  as  well 
as  their  capability  and  readiness  to  promote  what  is  good. 
It  is  also  gratifying  to  say  that  in  this  good  effort  the  Ameri- 
can business  man  may  find  in  the  Chinese  merchant  a  worthy 
and,  perhaps,  helpful  mate.  Therefore,there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  as  your  trade  with  China  began  at  the  begin- 

''  Portuguese  merchants  were  the  first  to  come  to  China  in  1516;  England 
came  second  in  1637;  while  the  United  States  was  the  seventh.  China  Year 
Book,  1012,  p.  74. 


30  CHING-CHUN    WANG 

ing  of  your  Republic,  so  it  should  take  a  new  turn  of  pros- 
perity from  the  beginning  of  our  Republic,  unless  the  United 
States  should  change  her  former  square-deal  policy. 

It  may  also  be  mentioned  that  above  all  the  United  States 
is  a  i)ower  of  the  Pacific.  The  purchase  of  Alaska,  the  acqui- 
sition of  Hawaii,  the  occupation  of  the  Philippines,  together 
with  the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal,  make  it  unmis- 
takable that  the  futm^e  activity  of  America  will  largely 
be  directed  towards  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  is  inevitable  that 
it  should  be  so,  for  the  Pacific,  as  prophesied  by  William  H. 
Seward  half  a  century  ago,  is  soon  to  become  the  center  of 
civilization.  IMoreover,  as  it  was  the  achievements  on  the 
Pacific  in  1898  that  gave  the  United  States  her  place  in  the 
opinion  of  the  world,  so  it  will  be  what  she  accomphshes  on 
the  Pacific  that  upholds  her  position  and  prestige.  China, 
in  spite  of  her  slowness,  is  yet  able,  and  bound,  to  play  an 
important  part  in  determining  the  affau-s  on  that  ocean. 
The  good  will  of  that  vast  country,  with  her  teeming  mil- 
lions, unlimited  resources,  and  wholesome  traditions,  deserves 
not  only  to  be  maintained,  but  to  be  improved.  The  open 
door,  which  in  reality  means  more  than  an  equal  opportunity 
to  your  trade  and  advancement,*  for  which  your  statesmen 
have  been  fighting  so  hard,  should  not  be  slightly  sacrificed 
and  gradually  closed  by  a  silent  approval  of,  or  inert  indif- 
ference toward,  the  land-grabbing  which  some  of  the  Powers 
are  plarming.  Because  every  foot  of  China  Russianized 
or  in  any  other  way  alienated,  means  just  that  much  damage 
to  American  trade  and  prestige.  The  United  States  has 
so  committed  herself,  and  is  so  peculiarly  related  with  China 
from  the  beginning  of  their  intercourse,  that  the  harm  done 
to  the  one  is  bound  to  be  felt  by  the  other  sooner  or  later. 
Indeed,  "every  blow  aimed  at  the  independence  of  that 
ancient  empire,"  as  remarked  an  able  American  writer,  "is 
a  blow  at  the  prestige  of  this  Republic,  part  of  a  deliberate 
attempt  to  make  the  position  of  the  United  States  in  Hhe 
world's   great   hereafter'    that   of   a   second-rate   power."' 

*  This  is  perhaps  why  some  nations  prefer  and  actually  brought  about 
the  closed  door  in  some  parts  of  the  country. 

'  G.  H.  Blakeslee,  China  and  the  Far  East,  p.  111. 


RELATIONS   BETWEEN    CHINA   AND    UNITED    STATES        31 

Therefore,  even  if  we  cast  aside  the  moral  obhgations  which 
a  strong  nation  owes  to  humanity,  and  change  om*  question 
of  what  is  best  for  China  into  what  is  best  for  the  United 
States  in  China,  or  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  we  must  still  see 
that  America  is  bound  to  profit  by  exerting  substantial 
efforts  to  help  China  to  struggle  over  her  period  of  regenera- 
tion. In  return  China,  as  her  traditions  teach,  will  recipro- 
cate a  hundredfold. 

There  are,  therefore,  the  strongest  a  'priori  reasons  in 
favor  of  a  closer  and  even  more  sympathetic  understanding 
between  the  two  great  Republics  in  the  world.  China  is 
slow,  stupid,  conservative,  and  everything  else,  but  never- 
theless, with  her  prodigious  numbers,  her  vast  extent,  her 
unlimited  resources,  and  her  instinctive  sense  of  gratitude, 
she  can  be  a  coadjutor  in  Asia  of  no  mean  value. 

But,  further,  to  judge  the  probability  of  close  friendship 
between  these  two  great  Republics,  we  need  only  to  examine 
the  past.  The  relations  between  these  countries  have 
always  been  most  cordial.  They  have  never  had  even  a 
quarrel,  to  say  nothing  of  war.  The  United  States  is  known 
to  the  Chinese  as  the  only  power  which  not  only  has  never 
tried  to  seize  our  land,  but  has  always  endeavored  to  prevent 
others  from  committing  such  injustice.  This  feeUng  alone 
is  enough  to  insure  a  lasting  gratitude  in  the  heart  of  the 
Chinese.  The  part  played  by  John  Hay  in  saving  China 
from  the  clutches  of  the  powers  during  the  Boxer  uprising 
in  1900,  the  unparalleled  fairness  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  influ- 
encing Congress  to  return  to  us  the  surplus  Boxer  indemnity, 
the  recent  efforts  of  President  Taft  in  preventing  interfer- 
ence during  our  Revolution,  the  unanimously  carried  resolu- 
tion of  Congress  introduced  by  Governor-elect  Sultzer  for 
the  recognition  of  the  Chinese  Republic,  and  the  enthusiastic 
sympathy  shown  us  by  the  best  type  of  Americans  all  over 
the  country,  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  favors  from  the 
United  States  which  the  Chinese  people  can  never  forget. 
Gratitude  is  not  only  an  eminent  virtue,  as  observed  by 
many,  but  almost  an  inherited  habit  of  the  Chinese.'"    As 

'"Consult  Herbert  A.  Gile's,  Civilization  of  China,  chapter  on  "Chinese 
and  Foreigners." 


32  CHING-CHUN    WANG 

soon  as  circumstances  permit,  China  will,  without  the  least 
doubt,  demonstrate  her  appreciation  of  the  favors  shown 
her  during  the  time  when  she  is  helpless.  Indeed  in  a 
limited  manner,  she  has  already  began  to  show  her  appre- 
ciation. We  still  remember  how  the  late  Burlingame'^ 
was  honored  b}-  China  as  her  special  ambassador  to  Europe 
in  recognition  of  his  friendly  help.  It  was  out  of  apprecia- 
tion of  .Ajnerica's  fairness  in  returning  the  surplus  Boxer 
indemnity  that  China  has  by  her  own  will  decided  to  use 
that  money  entirely  for  the  education  of  her  young  men  in 
the  United  States,  the  meaning  of  which  act  must  be  clear 
to  everj^  thinking  American.  Indeed,  the  feeling  of  grati- 
tude of  the  Chinese  towards  the  American  people  as  a  whole, 
and  John  Hay  in  particular,  will  become  more  profound  as 
we  progress.  When  China  is  free  from  obstructions  of  the 
greedy  powers,  and  starts  on  her  own  way  to  progress,  we 
can  prophesy  that  the  most  majestic  monument  in  honor  of 
the  Christian  statesmanship  of  John  Hay  will  not  be  found 
in  the  United  States,  but  in  China.  For  John  Hay  will 
become  more  beloved  to  the  Chinese  than  to  his  own 
people. 

Then  again,  the  Chinese  know  perfectly  well  that  America 
only  desires  greater  trade  facihties.  As  President  Taft  has 
recently  declared,  trade  is  the  forerunner  of  peace  and 
friendship. 12  The  Chinese  have  always  beheved  in  this 
doctrine,  and  therefore  they  welcome  the  Americans.  A 
trade  that  benefits  only  one  side  of  the  bargain  will  not  last 
long,  while  that  which  benefits  both  is  not  going  to  be 
slighted  by  either.  Thus  as  our  commercial  relations  in- 
crease so  will  our  friendship  grow.  With  her  geographical 
advantages,  her  enormous  resources  and  her  characteristic 
capacity  in  business  enterprise,  America  should  have  the 
best  advantage  over  all  in  distributing  her  commerce  and 
disseminating  her  influence  in  the  regeneration  of  China, 
which  is  bound  to  follow  the  Revolution. 

"Consult  Frederick  W.  Williams:  Anson  Burlingame  and  the  First 
Chinese  Mission  to  Foreign  Powers,  New  York,  1912. 

"  Before  the  Fifth  International  Congress  of  Chambers  of  Commerce  in 
Boston. 


RELATIONS   BETWEEN    CHINA    AND    UNITED    STATES        33 

It  must  also  be  mentioned  that  America  itself  is  directly 
responsible  for  the  Revolution.  Indeed  some  even  go  so 
far  as  to  say  that  it  was  an  American  Revolution,  because 
it  was  so  much  American.  In  the  first  place  many  of  the 
leaders  of  the  movement,  such  as  ex-President  Sun  Yat-Sen, 
were  either  educated  in  America  or  lived  under  American 
influence.  In  every  revolutionary  center,  there  were  num- 
bers of  American-educated  students.  Therefore  as  the 
French  Revolution  was  inspired  by  America's  success  so 
China's  Revolution  was  brought  about  and  won  by  America's 
education. 

There  must  be  added  the  fact  that  many  Americans 
themselves — missionaries,  educators  and  merchants  alike — 
were  in  no  small  measure  personally  responsible  for  what 
happened  in  China.  Besides  sowing  the  seed  of  the  Revolu- 
tion during  the  last  sixty  years,  these  Americans  have  shown 
unmistakable  sj^npathy  and  rendered  every  legitimate  help 
to  the  Revolution.  Indeed  the  Christian  efforts  of  these 
self-sacrificing  men  in  leaving  their  own  homes  and  coming 
over  to  China  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  to  diffuse  knowl- 
edge, as  well  as  their  help  during  the  Revolution  itself, 
have  contributed  no  small  share  in  making  the  Revolution 
so  sane  and  bloodless.  The  good  results  of  their  efforts  have 
won  not  only  the  confidence,  but  also  the  good  will  of  the 
Chinese  people,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  these 
Americans  will  exert  even  a  greater  influence  in  the  future. 

As  the  seed  of  the  Revolution  was  sown  by  America 
thirty  years  ago  in  the  hearts  of  our  students  who  first  came 
to  this  country,  so  the  constructive  work  following  the  Revo- 
lution will  be  done  under  the  influence  of  America  which 
hundreds  and  hundreds  of  our  leaders  will  receive.  The 
handful  of  young  men  who  received  their  education  in  this 
country  have  already  done  a  great  deal;  but  what  may  be 
expected  of  the  hundreds  of  our  students  now  found  in  every 
important  educational  institution  of  America  cannot  but 
be  tremendous.  These  young  men  study  not  only  American 
text  books,  but  they  themselves  become  Americanized. 
When  they  return  to  (Jhina  they  do  everything  they  can  to 
spread  the  good  name  of  America. 


34  CHING-CHUN   WANG 

Tliorofore,  since  the  seed  of  the  Revolution  was  sown  by 
.Vinerica,  :ind  the  success  and  saneness  of  it  made  possible 
by  .Viiierican  educated  men  with  the  help  of  American 
citizens,  and  since  the  constructive  work  will  also  be  done 
directly  under  American  influence  as  well  as  along  principles 
laid  down  by  America,  we  can  easily  see  that  every  success 
China  makes  will  mean  just  that  much  credit  to  the  United 
States,  while  each  failure  she  meets  will  no  less  reflect  upon 
America. 

As  we  realize  more  clearly  the  great  influence  which  Amer- 
ica has  had  upon  this  Revolution,  we  shall  feel  more  grateful 
for  our  success  towards  her,  the  result  of  which  will  not 
only  be  the  increase  of  .American  trade,  but  American  ideas 
as  well,  in  China.  We  have  eight  hundred  students  in  the 
United  States  today;  we  shall  probably  have  twice  that 
number  five  years  to  come.  In  return,  the  number  of  your 
missionaries,  educators,  and  merchants  to  China  will 
increase  in  proportion  to  meet  the  greater  demand.  This 
exchange  of  goods,  ideas  and  men  between  our  two  countries 
is  bound  to  improve  the  understanding  and  mutual  apprecia- 
tion of  each  other,  the  result  of  all  of  which  cannot  but  be  a 
still  closer  relationship  between  our  two  nations. 

We  must  remember,  however,  that  there  are  some  danger- 
ous circumstances  which  might  imperil  our  good  prospects. 
We  do  not  fear  any  political  differences  between  our  two 
nations,  nor  do  we  even  need  to  mention  the  once  possible 
irritation  arising  from  the  exclusion  act.  Concerning  the 
difficulties  arising  from  the  latter,  we  believe  that  the  best 
type  of  Americans  regret  the  existence  of  such  difficulties 
as  much  as  we  do.  Moreover,  we  also  believe  in  the  good 
sense  of  the  American  people  who  have  been  endeavor- 
ing and  will  continue  to  endeavor  to  ameliorate  all  the 
obnoxious  features  until  the  act  will  no  longer  remain 
humiliating  to  us  or  unbecoming  to  you. 

Furthermore,  we  also  feel  that  we  can  take  care  of  our 
own  coolies.  In  the  developing  of  our  railways,  mines,  and 
manufactures,  we  certainly  shall  be  in  need  of  our  own  cheap 
labor.  In  addition,  our  uncultivated  land  alone  will  fur- 
nish employment  to  whatever  labor  we  can  spare,  provided 


RELATIONS   BETWEEN    CHINA   AND   UNITED   STATES        35 

Russia  does  not  succeed  in  stealing  too  much  of  it  from  us. 
China  proper  itself  is  estimated,  on  good  authority/^  to  be 
sufficient  to  maintain  a  population  of  650  to  700  millions. 
In  other  words,  by  simply  developing  our  own  provinces, 
we  can  increase  our  population  80  per  cent,  and  get  along 
comfortably  for  at  least  fifty  or  a  hundred  years,  without 
requiring  any  relief  by  exodus.  We  may  also  venture  to 
say  that,  if  America  keeps  on  increasing  her  population  at 
the  present  rate,  and  with  such  help  as  Colonel  Roosevelt's 
crusade  against  race  suicide,  and  Dr.  Eliot's  recent  preach- 
ing before  the  Harvard  freshmen  in  favor  of  marriage,  at  the 
end  of  fifty  years  China  might  have  to  reverse  the  law  so  as 
to  bar  American  emigrants.  This  may  seem  too  much  like 
a  joke.  Nevertheless,  it  is  by  no  means  impossible,  At 
any  rate,  many  may  have  already  found  out  that  the  fear 
of  the  invasion  of  the  Chinese  immigrant  is  passing  away 
from  the  hearts  of  even  those  who  used  to  make  the  loudest 
cry,  while  many  others  are  beginning  to  feel  the  need  of  the 
help  of  Chinese  agricultural  labor.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
China  herself  disfavors  the  unregulated  emigration  of  her 
ignorant  classes  as  much  as  the  United  States.  Under  such 
circumstances,  we  need  not  worry  the  least  over  this  unpleas- 
ant question,  because  it  will  soon  die  its  natural  death. 

What  seems  to  be  the  real  danger  lies  in  the  unduly  selfish 
acts  which  may  be  committed  by  some  of  the  financial ' '  pro- 
moters" who  hesitate  sometimes  neither  to  extract  a  pound 
of  flesh  for  a  pound  of  gold — -to  use  the  familiar  expression — 
nor  to  sell  the  good  will  which  others  have  won.  This 
danger  would  become  perilous  should  the  governments  be 
misled  to  sacrifice  what  is  good  for  their  people  in  the  long 
run,  for  the  immediate  but  short-lived  gains  of  a  few.  I 
refer  especially  to  the  unfortunate  act  of  the  American 
China  Development  Company  of  some  seven  years  ago," 

"  G.  Curson,  Problems  of  the  Far  East,  p.  399. 

'■*  Led  by  her  confidence  in  America,  China  granted  to  the  Aincrican- 
China  Development  Company  the  concession  for  the  construction  of  the 
trunk  line  between  Canton  and  Hankow,  a  distance  of  about  one  thousand 
miles,  on  the  expressed  condition  that  the  controlling  interest  of  the  con- 
cession should  remain  in  the  hands  of  Americans.  Soon  after  the  conces- 
sion was  granted  the  American   financiers  sold  the    controlling   interest 


8t>  ClIING-CHUN   WANG 

1>\  whicli  these  promoters  betrayed  the  confidence  of  China, 
sold  the  fair  name  of  America,  and  incidentally  brought 
down  a  widespread  boycott  against  the  innocent  American 
pcM)i>U\  A  gigantic  swindle  is  no  word  to  express  that  near- 
sighted deal.  Time  and  space  forbid  us  to  go  into  details 
of  that  transaction,  which  is  regarded  as  unfortunate  both 
by  China  and  the  United  States.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  that 
was  the  only  thing  which  has  done  much  damage  to  the 
good  feeling  between  the  people  of  our  two  countries,  and 
that  all  well-wishers  of  both  countries  should  try  in  every 
way  to  prevent  similar  unfortunate  acts  from  being  re- 
peated to  mar  America's  fair  name  of  the  past  or  to  damage 
her  immense  trade  opportunities  in  the  future.  We  call 
attention  to  dangers  from  such  or  similar  sources,  for  it 
is  well  known  that  it  is  for  such  purposes  that  even  good 
people  may  be  led  to  misrepresent,  to  fabricate  or  to  do 
everything  else  that  proves  expedient. 

In  conclusion,  we  may  observe  again  that  the  relations 
between  China  and  the  United  States  have  always  been  both 
cordial  and  sympathetic.  As  a  result  of  the  Revolution, 
their  mutual  responsibilities,  as  well  as  mutual  obligations, 
have  increased.  These  two  great  nations  are  bound  to  have 
a  thousand  times  more  to  do  with  each  other;  and  as  this 
increased  intercourse  grows  and  multiplies,  the  relations 
between  them  will  become  more  sympathetic  and  their 
friendship  more  intimate.  Because  the  relationship  between 
these  two  countries  is  not  the  result  of  mutual  fear,  but  of 
mutual  advantage,  harmony  in  interest  and  identity  of 
ideals. 


directly  to  some  Belgians,  but  indirectly  to  Russia,  the  very  thing  which 
China  tried  to  avoid.  •As  a  result  China  was  compelled  to  purchase  back  that 
interest  at  an  enormous  financial  sacrifice,  besides  suffering  other  difficulties. 
Also  see  P.  H.  Kent,  Railway  Enterprise  in  China,  1907,  pp.  96-121,  and  the 
author's  article  on  "Why  the  Chinese  Oppose  Foreign  Railway  Loans"  Id 
the  American  Political  Science  Review  of  August,  1911. 


THE   NEW  HOLY  ALLIANCE   FOR   CHINA 

By  Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Government  in 
Harvard  University 

From  present  day  amenities  we  turn  to  speak  of  the  Holy 
Alliance,  a  subject  not  precisely  relevant  to  the  addresses  of 
the  morning,  or  likely  to  fit  with  the  addresses  that  are  to 
follow.  I  come  as  an  amateur  to  speak  to  persons  already 
better  informed,  to  those  who  know  what  they  are  talking 
about.  It  is  the  peculiar  province  of  the  scholar  first  to 
appropriate  the  materials  laboriously  collected  by  other 
people;  second,  to  generalize  upon  those  materials,  but  in 
a  spirit  different  from  that  of  those  who  have  collected  them; 
and  third,  to  promulgate  what  he  hopes  may  be  the  eventual 
truth. 

The  historical  criticisms  of  the  closet  scholars  have  ages 
ago  attracted  the  attention  of  the  great  writers  of  an  older 
race.  One  of  the  early  Chinese  classics  remarks  that 
''scholars  teach  men  what  is  contrary  to  your  laws.  When 
they  hear  that  an  ordinance  has  been  issued,  everyone  sets 
to  discussing  it  with  all  his  learning.  In  the  court  they  are 
dissatisfied  in  heart;  out  of  it  they  keep  talking  on  the  streets. 
While  they  make  a  pretence  of  vaunting  their  Master,  they 
consider  it  fine  to  have  extraordinary  views  of  their  own. 
And  so  they  lead  the  people  on  to  be  guilty  of  murmuring 
and  of  evil  speaking."  As  such  a  discontented  scholar, 
I  feel  too  much  like  the  schoolboy  who  was  called  upon  to 
define  figure  of  speech,  and  to  give  an  example.  This  was 
the  result:  "A  figure  of  speech  is  when  you  say  what  you  do 
not  mean  and  yet  mean  what  you  say.  Example :  '  He  blows 
his  own  horn.'  That  does  not  mean  that  he  has  a  horn,  but 
that  he  blows  it." 

In  1815  was  founded  by  three  great  European  powers 
through  their  sovereigns,  Francis  the  First,  Frederick  Wil- 
Uam,  and  Alexander  the  First,  a  solemn  league  which  they 

37 


38  ALBERT   BUSHNELL   HART 

called  the  Holy  Alliance.  In  course  of  time  all  of  the  Euro- 
pean powers  «!;a\o  it  their  adhesion  except  three — the  Papacy, 
the  Ottoman  Porte,  and  Great  Britain,  though  the  Prince 
Regent,  caused  it  to  be  remarked  that  England  was  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  combination.  If  the  Holy  Alliance  had  only 
been  sincere  there  would  have  been  no  more  wars,  no  pesti- 
lences, no  strikes,  no  duns— it  was  a  great  universal  sedative, 
a  mutual  political  insurance  company.  The  purpose  was 
that  there  never  should  be  any  more  disturbances  of  the 
then  existing  international  status. 

The  sovereigns  held  several  congresses,  at  Aix-la-Chapelle 
in  1818;  at  Troppau  and  Lay  bach  in  1820  and  1821;  and  at 
Verona  in  1822.  They  issued  to  the  world  some  remarkable 
statements  of  their  high  moral  purposes.  Thus  in  1820  they 
declared  that  the  "Powers  are  exercising  an  incontestable 
right  in  taking  common  measures  in  respect  to  those  states 
in  which  the  overthrow  of  the  government  may  result  in 
an  hostile  attitude  toward  all  continuous  and  legitimate 
government."  In  the  next  year  at  Laybach  they  solemnly 
announced  that  "useful  and  necessary  changes  in  the  legis- 
lation and  adrndnistration  of  states  must  emanate  alone 
from  the  free  will  and  enlightening  impulse  of  those  whom 
God  had  rendered  responsible  for  power,"  that  is,  from  them- 
selves. This  lofty  spirit  reminds  one  of  the  remark  of  a 
great  railroad  president  a  few  years  ago,  that  the  commercial 
affairs  of  the  country  should  be  carried  on  by  those  to  whom 
God  had  given  authority  over  the  property  of  the  country. 

The  Holy  Alliance  very  soon  found  its  opportunity  when 
revolutions  broke  out  in  Spain,  in  Naples,  and  in  Portugal, 
and  it  set  itself  to  restore  the  monarchs  whose  faithful  sub- 
jects did  not  appreciate  them.  The  most  striking  thing 
about  the  Holy  Alliance  is  not  so  much  that  it  existed,  as 
that  its  whole  effort  was  an  abject  failure.  To  be  sure 
Austria  as  the  representative  of  the  Holy  Alliance  crushed 
out  the  revolution  in  Naples;  but  Naples  eventually  became 
a  part  of  the  free  and  united  Italy.  France  restored  absolu- 
tism in  1823;  but  Spain,  after  a  period  of  ninety  years  is 
still  going  through  a  process  of  protest  against  absolutism. 
A  revolution  broke  out  in  Greece  in  1821,  and  then  and  there 


THE   NEW  HOLY   ALLIANCE   FOR   CHINA  39 

began  that  century-long  process  which  through  the  arms  of 
four  of  the  Balkan  Christian  powers  is  apparently  just  reach- 
ing its  end.  The  attempt  to  subvert  free  thought  was 
absolutely  hopeless.  That  is  the  Holy  Alliance  assumed  to 
determine  what  should  be  the  proper  type  of  government 
and  political  thought  in  Europe :  it  absolutely  failed  in  main- 
taining its  cherished  type  of  government;  and  it  became  a 
laughing  stock  for  the  nations. 

In  the  year  of  grace  1912  we  observe  a  combination  of 
European  powers  partly  operating  in  China,  partly  operating 
at  the  headquarters  of  their  governments  in  Europe,  which 
is  fairly  comparable  to  the  Holy  Alliance  in  its  form,  in  its 
purposes,  and,  we  trust,  in  the  eventual  failure  of  its  aims. 
The  basal  idea  of  the  combination  of  Em*opean  powers 
is  that  six  associated  foreign  nations  can  better  decide  than 
the  Chinese  themselves  what  shall  be  the  future  govern- 
ment and  the  destiny  of  that  great  empire.  This  principle 
is  not  a  new  one.  I  see  before  me  people  who  have  lived  for 
years  in  China,  and  they  can  tell  you  better  than  a  visitor 
for  a  few  months  about  the  general  relations  of  diplomats 
and  commercial  men  to  the  Chinese  government  and  people. 
They  will  however  all  agree  that  from  the  time  that  the 
European  powers  first  broke  into  China,  which  was  in  1840, 
the  Europeans  have  in  general  adhered  to  the  idea  that 
their  presence  in  China  was  not  based  on  advantage  to  the 
Chinese,  but  on  their  own  purposes,  and  for  their  own  bene- 
fit. Thus  Burlingame  wrote  in  1868:  "Yet,  notwithstand- 
ing this  manifest  progress,  there  are  people  who  will  tell  you 
that  China  has  made  no  progress,  that  her  views  are  retro- 
grade, and  they  will  tell  you  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  West- 
ern duty  powers  to  combine  for  the  purpose  of  coercing 
China  into  reforms  that  they  may  desire  and  which  she  does 
not  desire — who  undertake  to  state  that  these  people  have 
no  rights  which  they  are  bound  to  respect.  In  their  coarse 
language  they  say,  'Take  her  by  the  throat.'  Using  the 
tyrant's  plea  they  say  they  know  better  what  China  wants 
than  China  herself  does."  That,  you  see,  was  many  years 
ago,  nearly  half  a  century,  in  a  period  of  impatience  with 
China. 


40  ALBERT   BUSHNELL   HART 

One  reason  for  this  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Europeans 
to  control  China  is  an  ignorance  of  the  real  character  of  the 
Chinoso.  Of  all  the  people  who  visit  China  and  even  who 
spcnil  3'cars  there,  few  really  become  sufficiently  acquainted 
with  the  Chinese  to  put  them  within  the  possibility  of  under- 
standing the  conditions  of  the  Chinese  mind  or  the  ultimate 
purposes  of  the  Chinese  government.  It  is  a  standing  criti- 
cism upon  foreign  business  men  that  they  associate  so  little 
with  the  Chinese;  that  so  few  of  them  ever  acquire  the  lan- 
guage, that  so  very  few  quaUfy  themselves  to  give  an  expert 
opinion  on  what  is  going  on  in  China.  Many  years  ago  an 
English  consul  said,  "There  is  perhaps  no  country  in  the 
world  frequented  by  the  English-speaking  race  in  which 
merchants  are  so  lamentably  ignorant  of  the  customs  and 
resources  of  the  locality  in  which  they  live  as  they  are  at 
this  moment  in  Ch'na,  and  this  is  entirely  to  be  attributed  to 
a  want  of  famiharity  with  the  language." 

Perhaps  there  has  been  a  similar  ignorance  on  the  part  of 
the  Chinese.  Thus  Wo  Jen,  grand  secretary  of  the  imperial 
library  in  1868  wi'ote,  "As  to  observing  the  customs  of  the 
foreigners  and  learning  from  them — their  customs  are  noth- 
ing but  lasciviousness  and  cunning,  while  their  incHnations 
are  simply  fiendish  and  malignant."  Of  course  that  is 
brutally  insulting  for  an  Oriental  to  say  of  an  Occidental, 
but  when  we  say  similar  things  of  the  Chinese  it  is  only  a 
needed  rebuke  to  an  inferior  people. 

In  1868  or  thereabouts  a  man  named  Robertson  wi'ote  in 
an  Engfish  review:  "If  China  will  assent  to  progress  and 
■development  of  her  resources  under  a  system  of  well-con- 
sidered pressure  by  the  foreign  ministers;  even  if  its  rulers 
are  under  fear  of  armed  compulsion  if  they  refuse,  we  can- 
not see  that  the  exercise  of  this  pressure  in  a  reasonable 
mi.nner  by  the  foreign  governments  is  objectionable.  Any 
improvement  in  China  is  possible  only  under  such  a  system. 
We  have  no  desire  to  be  unjust  or  unreasonable  toward 
the  Chinese  ....  but  we  strongly  object  to  any 
assurance  being  given  the  Chinese  authorities  that  the 
time  and  manner  of  their  progress  are  left  to  their  own 
discretion,  and  that  therefore,  they  need  no  longer  fear  to 


THE   NEW   HOLY   ALLIANCE    FOR   CHINA  41 

disregard  the  demands  of  the  British  minister  at  Pekin. 
The  judgment  of  the  Chinese  themselves 
on  the  perils  that  beset  their  future  course  is  utterly- 
worthless," 

That,  of  course,  is  exactly  in  line  with  the  present  attempt 
of  foreign  powers  to  decide  the  destiny  of  China.  I  quote 
it  simply  to  illustrate  the  underlying  idea  held  by  many  of 
the  diplomats,  that  China  exists  chiefly  to  furnish  oppor- 
tunities for  the  application  of  the  advanced  principles  of  the 
West,  that  God  created  that  people,  not  in  order  that  there 
might  be  a  Chinese  nation,  but  that  they  might  furnish  a 
field  for  Chinese  investment. 

The  European  powers  were  a  long  time,  three  centuries  in 
fact,  in  obtaining  access  to  the  Chinese  ports,  because  of  an 
obstinate  Chinese  determination  not  to  trade  with  exterior 
nations.  Under  great  pressure  the  Chinese  were  prevailed 
upon  to  open  up  a  certain  number  of  their  ports  as  points  of 
contact  between  themselves  and  the  outside  world.  Then 
began  a  system  of  European  regulation  of  these  ports,  and 
then  the  ticklish  business  of  a  European  power  undertaking 
to  say,  "You  must  make  even  your  customs  duties  to  suit 
us."  We  must  not  forget  that  the  bottom  idea  of  all  the 
treaty  stipulations  as  to  extraterritoriality,  customs  rates  and 
intercourse  is  not  the  welfare  of  the  people  in  Asia,  but  the 
profit  and  ease  of  doing  business  by  the  people  in  the  West, 
and  the  prestige  of  the  governments  that  thus  intervene. 

As  soon  as  a  foothold  in  the  treaty  ports  was  gained,  began 
the  process  of  seizing  territory.  Most  of  the  powers  wanted 
to  push  up  into  the  country  as  far  as  they  could  back  of 
the  treaty  ports.  They  were  always  demanding  more  privi- 
leges of  intercourse,  and  of  late  years  have  made  a  deter- 
mined and  concerted  campaign  for  concessions  from  the 
Chinese.  The  Chinese  are  not  held  competent  to  decide 
on  their  own  means  of  transportation.  And  foreigners  are 
eager  to  build  railroads,  not  because  they  think  the  Chinese 
need  railroads,  but  because  the  European  and  American 
bankers  need  the  profit  of  the  railroads.  The  imperial  gov- 
ernment was  very  ill-organized  to  resist  such  pressure;  at 
the  start  it  was  not  accustomed  to  relations  with  foreign 


fJ  ALBERT   BUSHNELL   HART 

powers:  it  fornu'tl  the  Tsung  Li  Yamen  with  great  regret, 
and  stolidly  held  back  in  all  negotiations  for  further  power 
and  infliuMico  to  foreigners. 

The  whole  situation  in  China  is  complicated  by  the 
foreign  possession  of  so  many  pieces  of  territory  which  the 
Chinese  fondly  suppose  are  theirs.  To  say  nothing  about 
Coohin-China,  Hong  Kong,  Kowloon,  Tsintau,  Wei  Hai 
Woi  and  Port  Arthur  are  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Ger- 
mans, the  English  and  the  Japanese;  and  the  Japanese  and 
Russians  are  occupying  parts  of  Manchuria  and  Mongolia. 
That  is,  four  of  the  six  powers  that  are  now  engaged  in  the 
attempt  to  manage  and  control  China,  are  at  the  present 
moment  in  possession  of  large  territories,  every  square  yard 
of  which  the  Chinese  look  upon  as  filched  from  them. 

For  a  long  time  the  powers  engaged  in  single  wars  with 
China,  each  on  its  own  account,  and  those  wars  were  accom- 
panied by  a  ruthlessness  and  destruction  which  can  hardly 
be  supposed  to  be  a  high  moral  lesson  to  the  Chinese.  If  a 
foreign  army  should  capture  New  York  and  plunder  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  and  sell  its  irreplaceable  treas- 
ures to  peddlers,  we  should  hardly  think  it  a  mark  of  Chinese 
civilization!  Yet  that  was  just  what  happened  to  the  winter 
palace  in  1860.  Since  1900  the  European  powers  have 
usually  made  it  a  point  not  to  ask  for  individual  privileges, 
but  for  joint  privileges;  so  that  the  experience  of  China  was 
that  if  Russia  got  a  concession  for  a  railroad,  the  French  were 
instantly  besieging  for  a  like  favor.  And  if  Russia  seized 
a  piece  of  Chinese  territory  the  Germans  thought  they  must 
have  a  similar  piece  of  stolen  goods.  Since  the  expedition 
to  Peking  in  1900  there  has  been  a  common  miUtary  under- 
standing. 

The  Chinese  have  always  resented  this  form  of  diplomacy. 
They  look  upon  their  European  friends  as  the  Russian  hero 
looked  upon  the  king  of  the  sea  when  the  sea  monster  said  : 
"  'Tis  a  long  time  since  I  have  eaten  fresh  flesh,  and  lo! 
here  it  comes  right  into  my  very  hands!  Welcome,  friend. 
Come  here,  and  let  me  see  at  which  end  of  you  I  shall  begin!" 
Then  the  Tsarevitch  began  to  say  that  among  good  people 
one  behaved  not  so  badly  as  to  eat  another  up.     'That  is 


THE    NEW   HOLY   ALLIANCE    FOR   CHINA  43 

too  much/  cried  the  sea  monster,  'he  comes  to  force  his  own 
rules  and  regulations  upon  the  homes  of  other  people.' "  Is 
it  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  feeling  of  Europeans  has 
been  that  any  attempt  of  the  Chinese  to  prevent  the  entry 
into  and  the  commercial  use  of  their  country  was  regarded 
as  an  affront  to  Europe? 

More  recently  has  developed  a  common  responsibility, 
particularly  shown  in  the  negotiations  for  indemnities  after 
the  Boxer  outbreak.  One  of  the  interesting  things  about 
this  combination  is  that  a  new  European  power  has  joined  it, 
and  that  is  Japan.  The  Japanese  claim  the  privileges 
granted  to  Western  powers — such  as  the  right  of  interven- 
tion, extraterritoriality,  and  the  right  to  trade  on  the  Yangtze 
in  subsidized  vessels.  They  have  put  up  a  magnificent 
group  of  buildings  at  Hankow. 

All  this  suggests  the  sublime  purpose  of  the  Holy  Alliance, 
to  do  people  good  against  their  will;  but  the  difficulty  is 
increased  by  a  commercial  combination,  the  purpose  of 
which  is  first  of  all  to  obtain  concessions,  for  railroads,  mines, 
and  other  needed  enterprises.  Anybody  can  see  that  China 
lacks  capital,  a  need  no  more  common  there  than  on  the 
Pacific  slope  of  the  United  States,  or  on  northwestern 
Canada.  Such  an  infusion  of  borrowed  wealth  would  enable 
the  country  rapidly  to  develop  its  means  of  transportation 
and  its  immense  physical  resources.  The  prime  difficulty 
is  that  the  powers  conceive  that  they  have  an  inherent  right 
to  invest  money  in  China  on  terms  which  they  themselves 
lay  down;  while  in  general  the  Chinese  believe  that  the 
commercial  agreements  which  they  are  asked  to  ratify  are 
unfavorable  to  them.  At  ,the  moment  the  burning  question 
is  that  of  loans.  China  has  long  been  a  borrower  on  not 
very  favorable  terms,  and  there  is  already  a  considerable 
national  debt.  The  revolution  has  cost  a  lot  of  money  and 
there  is  a  demand  for  more  loans  first  of  all  to  pay  off  and 
disband  troops.  A  group  of  bankers  favored  by  the  six 
powers  have  established  themselves  as  a  syndicate  for  this 
business,  and  propose  terms  on  which  they  will  place  a 
$300,000,000  loan. 

The  six-power  loan  under  consideration  in  November, 


44  ALBERT   BUSHNELL   HART 

1912,  is  practically  the  work  of  a  commercial  Holy  Alliance 
formed  to  regulate  Oriental  affairs.  The  determination  of 
the  ministers  of  six  great  powers  in  consultation  to  push 
through  a  financial  transaction  which  China  does  not  like 
is  an  unseemly  spectacle,  not  relieved  by  the  undeniable  fact 
that  weak  powers  are  frequently  called  upon  to  yield  to 
stronger  forces.  A  foreign  administration  of  the  loans  is 
one  of  the  conditions,  though  hard  and  humiliating — for  it 
is  urged  that  Orientals  cannot  conduct  their  native  finances. 
The  Japanese  know  better,  for  they  have  almost  dispensed 
with  foreign  financial  engineers  and  managers. 

The  next  demand,  which  is  at  least  evidently  favored  by 
the  powers,  is  that  if  money  is  lent  it  shall  be  lent  only  by  a 
combination  of  the  bankers  of  the  six  powers.  I  regret  that 
the  United  States  should  be  one  of  the  partners  in  such  an 
enterprise.  The  American  bankers  are  justified  in  looking 
after  their  own  interests,  and  in  finding  a  profitable  invest- 
ment for  their  money;  but  it  is  a  serious  business  for  the 
bankers  to  insist  that  they  will  lend  the  money  only  in  case  a 
foreign  administrator  is  to  follow  it.  For  the  power  to 
supervise  the  expenditure  of  that  money  includes  the  power 
to  control  much  of  the  finances  and  the  public  works  of 
China.  It  involves  an  inspection  and  regulation  of  the  inter- 
nal financial  administration  of  the  country. 

In  the  background  the  Chinese  believe  that  they  see  the 
shadow  of  the  armed  man.  A  few  years  ago  they  gave  Rus- 
sia permission  to  build  a  railroad  across  Manchuria  and  to 
protect  it  with  guards.  The  Russian  conception  of  guards 
was  an  army  of  50,000  men  intending  to  stay  on  Chinese  soil, 
and  their  descendants  forever.  The  Chinese  suspect  that  it  is 
the  intention  of  the  powers,  whenever  they  think  it  necessary, 
to  send  troops  into  the  country  to  enforce  the  carrying  out  of 
conditions.  In  the  six  groups  each  group  has  its  govern- 
ment behind  it,  which  demands  a  share  in  the  loan  for  its 
citizens  as  a  matter  of  right.  What  is  the  reason  for  this 
pressure?  Mainly  that  each  group  of  bankers  expects  that 
the  Chinese  will  spend  at  least  a  part  of  the  loans  for  materials 
and  supplies,  and  that  the  orders  will  go  through  the  loaning 
bankers  and  to  their  friends  and  commercial  connections. 


THE    NEW   HOLY   ALLIANCE    FOR   CHINA  45 

I  speak  subject  to  correction  by  those  who  are  better 
acquainted  with  the  subject,  but  when  I  was  in  China  in 
1909  that  was  the  point  stated  to  me ;  and  the  negotiations 
for  the  loan  now  appear  to  turn  on  that  issue. 

Outside  of  finance,  what  is  the  relation  of  the  New  Holy 
Alliance  to  the  Chinese  republic?  One  reason  for  the  pres- 
ent combination  is  undoubtedly  that  some  of  the  powers  are 
not  pleased  with  the  proposed  democratic  government  of 
China.  But  it  is  no  longer  possible  for  any  one  European 
or  American  power  seriously  to  affect  the  internal  govern- 
ment of  China,  for  the  potential  strength  of  that  nation  is 
coming  to  be  more  and  more  realized. 

Of  the  six  powers,  two  are  themselves  democracies,  the 
United  States  and  France.  On  the  other  hand  an  Asiatic 
republic  is  on  the  face  of  things  repugnant  to  both  Russia  and 
Japan.  And  there  s  perhaps  no  country  in  the  world  that 
is  so  genuinely  democratic  as  China,  no  country  in  which 
the  affairs  of  the  local  communities  are  more  systematically 
regulated  by  the  people  themselves.  This  distrust  of  democ- 
racy is  combined  with  a  feeling  that  the  republic  cannot 
stand;  and  this  objection  is  confronted  by  the  fact  that  there 
is  no  other  kind  of  national  government  now  in  ex  stence 
or  in  prospect  in  China,  no  royal  dynasty,  no  acknowledged 
oligarchy.  Granted  the  weakness  of  the  present  republic  is 
stronger  than  any  government  which  could  be  established 
by  external  influence  and  pressure. 

The  real  objection  is  to  the  possibility  of  a  permanent 
strong  power  in  China  which  shall  realize  the  inconven- 
ience and  national  discredit  through  foreign  domination. 
Any  strong  Chinese  power  will  certainly  address  itself  to 
the  status  of  the  concessions  in  the  treaty  ports  in  which 
the  Europeans  rule  portions  of  Chinese  territory. 

Equally  acute  is  the  question  of  the  government  of  the 
European  colonies  within  the  Chinese  boundaries.  If  the 
Chinese  government,  republic  or  kingdom,  is  once  aroused 
to  the  possibility  of  expelling  the  foreigners,  the  era  of 
European  domination  is  over.  Hence  the  unwillingness  to 
allow  the  low  scale  of  import  duties  to  be  changed  for 
it  is  intimately  related  to  the  trade  of  the  treaty  ports.     Of 


46  ALBERT   BUSHNELL   HART 

course  the  United  States  recognizes  that  a  system  of  high 
duties  on  imports  is  inequitable  to  foreign  powers  and  ab- 
sokitely  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  international  law. 

The  privileges  of  the  interior,  especially  those  of  the  Yang- 
tse  Kiang,  are  also  involved.  Admiral  Mahan  says:  ''The 
close  ajiproach  and  contact  of  eastern  and  western  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  resultant  mutual  effects,  are  matters  which 
can  no  longer  be  disregarded,  or  postponed  from  any  argu- 
ments derived  from  the  propriety  of  non-interference,  or 
from  the  conventional  rights  of  a  so-called  independent  state 
to  regulate  its  own  affairs.  They  have  ceased  to  be  its  own 
in  the  sense  of  Chinese  isolation — as  the  nations  have  insisted 
that  we  shall  be  allowed  to  sell  and  buy  without  pretending 
that  the  Chinese  subject  should  be  compelled  to  trade  with 
us — so  they  will  have  to  insist  that  currency  be  permitted  to 
our  ideas,  liberty  to  exchange  thought  in  Chinese  territory 
with  individual  Chinamen,  though  equally  without  any  com- 
pulsion." This  is  substantially  a  doctrine  that  western 
powers  have  an  innate  right  to  exercise  benevolent  compul- 
sion on  the  Chinese  to  compel  them  to  receive  foreigners 
on  terms  dictated  by  the  foreigners. 

The  immediate  evidence  of  this  spirit  is  the  indifference  to 
the  substantial  Chinese  interests  in  Mongolia  and  in  Man- 
churia. WTiile  unready  or  unwilling  to  prevent  the  virtual 
conquest  of  these  provinces  from  China,  the  six  powers 
pretend  to  make  far-reaching  decisions  with  respect  to  the 
future  government  of  China.  For  if  you  are  going  to  put  in 
an  administrator  to  superintend  a  loan,  that  means  that  you 
have  a  right  to  keep  order  and  maintain  the  value  of  your 
security.  You  must  suppress  revolutions — not  every  revolu- 
tion, of  course;  only  such  revolutions  as  you  think  are  unde- 
sirable for  your  interests.  The  underlying  principle  of  the 
present  Holy  Alliance  in  the  East  is  to  keep  China  weak 
politically,  while  trying  to  make  her  industrially  strong; 
and  to  see  that  the  results  of  commercial  gain  shall  not  get 
out  of  the  control  of  those  who  now  take  responsibiUty  for 
its  finances. 

I  submit  that  in  such  an  Holy  Alliance  the  United  States 
has  no  rightful  part.     It  is  contrary  to  a  century  long  policy 


THE   NEW  HOLY   ALLIANCE   FOR   CHINA  47 

of  avoiding  combinations  with  other  powers.  It  is  contrary 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  which  was  a  protest 
against  the  operations  of  the  old  Holy  Alliance  in  America. 
It  is  contrary  to  our  policy  in  regard  to  the  Panama  canal: 
this  country  admitted  no  European  partner  in  that  great 
enterprise.  It  is  contrary  to  our  economic  interest,  which 
is  for  a  productive  China. 

Nor  is  it  necessary  for  the  United  States  to  dictate  to 
China  in  behalf  of  its  own  money  power.  It  is  no  time  for 
us,  when  we  are  trying  to  curb  corporations  which  menace 
the  existence  of  democratic  government  in  America,  to  go 
out  into  the  Orient  to  use  the  authority  of  the  United  States 
in  aid  of  the  projects  of  similar  aggregations  of  capital.  The 
old  Holy  Alliance  failed,  and  the  New  Holy  Alliance  is  des- 
tined to  a  like  failure,  because  it  is  unnatural  and  topheavy. 
The  United  States  through  the  Monroe  Doctrine  precipitated 
the  collapse  of  the  old  combination  and  should  stand  by 
its  doctrine  of  the  independence  of  nations. 

It  is  not  for  us  to  dictate  to  other  peoples  what  their 
government  shall  be ;  we  are  not  entirely  successful  in  orderly 
and  popular  government  here  at  home.  Is  it  likely  that  by 
joining  with  five  other  powers,  not  one  of  which  is  sincerely 
sympathetic  with  our  idea  of  government,  we  can  help  the 
Chinese  to  set  up  a  solid  government?  To  my  mind  the 
serious  question  and  issue  of  the  moment  is:  what  kind  of 
government  will  be  most  advantageous  to  the  Chinese? 
No  nation,  no  group  of  nations,  has  a  right  to  insist  that  the 
commercial  affairs  of  another  nation  shall  be  regulated  for 
the  benefit  of  outsiders. 

The  whole  scheme  really  rests  upon  the  supposed  funda- 
mental incapacity  of  the  Chinese.  That  comes  with  ill 
grace  from  such  moderns  as  we  are.  Many  of  the  Chinese 
were  living  in  cities  with  an  elaborate  civilization  when 
our  Teutonic  ancestors  were  pursuing  the  aurochs  for  an 
evening  meal  and  had  not  so  much  as  heard  of  the  Romans. 
The  antiquity  of  the  Chinese  is  a  proof  that  they  have  some 
power  to  make  a  government  for  themselves.  For  their 
isolation  they  have  had  excuse:  other  nations  have  not 
been  kind  to  them.     The  Chinese  wall,  typical  in  our  speech 


4S  ALBERT   BUSHNELL   HART 

of  an  unreasoning;  and  hurtful  barrier,  is  one  of  the  world's 
pea  test  achievements  because  it  was  successful,  because  for 
centuries  it  did  keep  out  those  mounted  neighbors  that  were 
such  a  scourge  to  China. 

In  the  long  run  the  six-power  system  is  against  the  inter- 
ests of  the  six  powers.  What  will  be  the  effect  on  China  if 
this  week  or  next  the  European  powers  are  swept  into  a 
general  war?  If  it  were  impossible  to  reinforce  the  present 
scanty  European  garrisons  how  long  w^ould  Tsintau  remain 
German  or,  Kowloon  English,  or  the  Shanghai  concessions 
European?  If  I  were  a  Chinese  I  would  stand  as  long  as  I 
lived  for  the  doctrine  that  my  country  is  entitled  to  its 
own  territory  and  to  its  own  control. 

So  far  as  the  ability  of  the  Chinese  to  maintain  a  govern- 
ment is  concerned  it  is  not  within  the  compass  nor  the  prov- 
ince of  allied  nations  to  alter  their  circumstances  or  charac- 
ter. Doubtless  the  governmental  conditions  are  crude, 
clumsy  and  imperfect;  but  they  will  not  be  improved  by  a 
six-part  tutorship.  The  Chinese  deserve  to  be  taken  on 
their  merits,  as  shown  by  experience;  upon  their  ability  or 
inability  to  m^aintain  a  government. 

Hence  it  would  seem  in  accordance  with  American  policy 
to  recognize  the  republic  of  China,  instead  of  joining  in 
embarrassing  it.  I  do  not  claim  that  the  Chinese  are  perfect 
people,  or  even  that  they  are  capable  of  maintaining  a  repub- 
lican government ;  but  they  have  become  the  greatest  poten- 
tial power  in  Asia.  I  predict  that  there  will  be  a  Chinese 
nation,  a  Chinese  language  and  literature,  and  a  Chinese 
influence,  quite  as  long  as  there  is  an  English  or  an  American 
nation,  language  and  literature.  I  beheve  that  China  is  one 
of  the  prime  forces  in  the  world.  It  is  simple  morahty  that 
the  United  States  of  America  should  consider  the  interests 
of  the  Chinese  in  dealing  with  them  as  well  as  the  interests 
of  our  citizens.  Proper  trade  between  any  two  nations  is 
mutually  profitable  and  hospitable.  America  ought  to  be 
the  helpful  nation  to  China,  an  uplifting  and  sustaining 
influence  in  the  present  great  difficulties  of  that  government. 
I  believe  that  it  is  not  our  business  to  be  part  and  parcel  of  a 
combination  founded  in  part  for  the  protection  of  Europeans 


THE    NEW    HOLY   ALLIANCE    FOR    CHINA  49 

in  China,  but  essentially  based  in  selfishness.  The  com- 
mercial organization  of  the  present  Holy  Alliance  is  at  bot- 
tom a  movement  for  making  money  out  of  the  Chinese  by 
Europeans  and  Americans.  As  a  money-making  enterprise 
the  six-power  financial  scheme  Ues  outside  of  our  legitimate 
national  interests. 


A  PLEA  FOR  FAIR  PLAY  AND  THE  RECOGNITION 
OF  THE  CHINESE  REPUBLIC 

By  Major  Louis  Livingston  Seaman,  M.D.,  LL.B.,  F.R.G.S., 

President  of  the  China  Society  of  America 

The  problem  of  the  Orient  is  the  problem  of  the  twentieth 
century',  and  today,  China  is  its  key.  The  most  eventful 
year  of  modern  times  in  the  life  of  the  Chinese  people  has 
just  passed  into  historj^  They  have  escaped  from  the  des- 
potism of  a  corrupt  monarchy  to  the  freedom  of  a  republic. 
The  problems  which  now  confront  them  are  the  recognition 
of  their  government  as  a  republic  by  foreign  nations,  and  the 
adjustment  of  their  finances.  Unless  these  are  arranged  to 
the  satisfaction  of  a  powerful  syndicate  of  bankers,  backed 
by  the  diplomats  of  their  various  countries,  it  has  been  inti- 
mated that  the  partitioning  of  the  country  may  be  appre- 
hended as  a  probable  eventuality. 

It  might  have  been  hoped  that  the  carnival  of  territorial 
lust,  which  for  centuries  caused  untold  bloodshed  the  world 
over,  had  culminated  in  the  partitioning  of  Africa — the  last 
of  the  continents  to  be  parceled  off  by  the  world's  looters, 
who  in  the  division  of  the  spoils,  followed,  as  the  robber 
barons  of  feudal  times. 

The  good  old  rule,  the  simple  plan, 

That  they  should  take  who  have  the  power, 

And  they  should  keep  who  can. 

But  look  at  China  today — that  grand  old  country,  with  its 
great  wall  which  for  over  twenty  centuries  protected  it  from 
the  hordes  of  Tartars  and  Mongols  on  the  north,  while  its 
Thibetan  ranges  on  the  west,  and  impenetrable  forests  on 
the  south,  permitted  it  to  live  in  peace  and  tranquillity 
thousands  of  years,  with  no  fear  of  molestation  by  ''foreign 
devils,"  from  land  or  sea.  And  in  this  time  the  beautiful 
but  fallacious  philosophy  of  Confucius,  which  taught  the 

50 


RECOGNITION   OF   THE   CHINESE   REPUBLIC  51 

rule  of  moral  suasion  rather  than  that  by  might,  grew  until 
its  essence  was  expressed  in  the  proverb,  ''Better  have  no 
child  than  one  who  is  a  soldier" — this,  too,  in  a  land  where  it 
is  considered  a  disgrace  to  die  childless. 

And  what  was  the  natural  result:  A  condition  of  insecu- 
rity, of  defencelessness,  of  inability  to  enforce  that  first  law 
of  nature — self-protection — followed,  which,  when  realized 
by  the  Occidental  nations,  resulted  in  their  seizing  great 
sections  of  her  domains  upon  trivial  excuses,  and  wringing 
most  valuable  concessions  from  her  rulers. 

As  a  direct  result  of  this  spoliation,  the  worm  at  last 
turned,  and  the  Boxer  uprising  of  1900  followed,  having  for 
its  declared  purpose  the  forcible  expulsion  of  all  foreigners 
from  the  country,  and  the  recovery  by  China  of  her  despoiled 
possessions.  I  say,  without  fear  of  contradiction  by  those 
who  are  familiar  with  that  issue  (and  I  was  there),  that  that 
uprising  was  one  of  the  most  splendid  exhibitions  of  patriot- 
ism witnessed  in  modern  times.  The  methods  pursued  by 
the  Chinese,  due  to  the  ignorance  of  their  misguided  leaders, 
and  the  horrors  that  followed,  have  afforded  the  theme  for 
many  a  tragic  tale  and  numberless  explanatory  theories. 
But  the  plain  fact  cannot  be  gainsaid,  nor  too  strongly  em- 
phasized, that  the  essential  motive  of  that  propaganda  was 
the  freeing  of  the  land  from  the  hated  foreigners,  who,  in 
current  phrase,  had  ''robbed  the  people  of  their  country." 

It  was  then,  that  in  reprisal  and  revenge,  the  so-called 
civilized  world  turned  against  them.  The  eight  allied  armies 
of  the  "great  powers"  marched  to  their  capital,  slaughtered 
their  people,  raped  their  women,  looted  their  temples,  their 
treasure  and  their  habitations,  committed  brutalities  that 
would  have  made  Nero  envious,  and  created  a  sentiment  in 
China  which  fairly  crucified  Christianity,  and  which  should 
redound  to  the  shame  and  humiliation  of  the  Christian 
nations  whose  forces  participated  in  the  outrages;  but  which, 
instead,  secured  monstrous  indemnities  and  subjected  China 
to  the  most  humiliating  terms  of  peace  that  were  ever 
inflicted  upon  a  nation,  and  that  have  kept  her  poverty- 
stricken  ever  since.  America,  however,  has  reasons  for  pride 
in  that  she  waived  claims  to  over  half  the  indemnity,  whilst 


52  L.    L.    SEAMAN 

her  great  statesman,  John  Hay,  succeeded  temporarily  in 
jireserving  the  integrity  of  the  country  by  his  splendid 
policy  of  the  "open  door." 

Never  shall  I  forget  that  winter  at  Ching  Wan  Tao,  follow- 
ing the  war,  where  detachments  of  the  allied  army  were 
gathered  awaiting  the  fate  of  China.  They  reminded  me  of 
a  pack  of  hungry  wolves  around  the  carcass  of  a  dead  animal 
— each  fearing  to  set  his  fangs  in  the  carcass,  lest  while  so 
engaged  his  neighbor  might  do  the  same  with  him.  And 
so  during  the  long  negotiations  that  finally  led  to  the  declara- 
tion of  peace,  the  situation  continued. 

Four  years  later  I  again  visited  that  scene,  and  there,  in 
smaller  numbers,  were  found  the  troops  of  many  of  the  na- 
tions still  waiting,  ready  to  seize  the  first  opportunity  to 
partition  the  country  and  to  secure  their  share  of  the  spoil. 
But  more  pressing  engagements  were  then  imminent,  involv- 
ing the  attention  of  some  of  the  powers.  The  Russo- 
Japanese  struggle  was  on,  and  China  was  given  a  temporary 
respite.  From  that  time  until  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution 
which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Republic,  China  paid 
the  indemnity  claims  with  such  regularity  that  no  oppor- 
tunity was  found  for  interference. 

For  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  century,  beginning  with 
the  unrighteous  Opium  War  of  England,  down  to  the  equally 
unrighteous  Boxer  War  of  1900,  and  even  later,  China  has 
been  subjected  to  a  series  of  squeezes  and  despoilment  of  her 
territory  to  an  extent  unequaled  in  history.  The  iniquitous 
indemnities  wrung  from  her  as  the  result,  of  the  Boxer  cam- 
paign would  have  been  reversed,  and  the  countries  now  receiv- 
ing them  would  be  paying  for  the  outrages  committed,  had 
right,  instead  of  might,  prevailed.  The  powerful  govern- 
ments and  financial  institutions  doing  business  in  the  Orient 
have  become  obsessed  with  the  idea  that  it  is  legitimate 
business  to  ''squeeze"  the  country,  regardless  of  right  or 
justice,  and  in  the  present  instance  they  are  continuing  that 
policy.  The  six-power  group  of  bankers,  backed  by  the 
diplomacy  of  the  countries  they  represent,  before  advocating 
the  joint  recognition  of  the  Republic,  demand  first,  an  exces- 
sive rate  of  interest  for  money  advanced,  and  second,  terms, 


RECOGNITION   OF   THE    CHINESE   REPUBLIC  53 

as  to  its  distribution  and  expenditure,  so  humiliating  that 
no  proud  nation  could  grant  them  without  loss  of  self- 
respect.  If  these  conditions  are  not  complied  with,  the 
hidden  threat  is  intimated  that  the  intervention  of  foreign 
powers  and  dismemberment  of  the  country  may  ensue. 

The  effect  upon  China  of  the  spoliation  of  her  territory 
and  finances  created  among  the  leading  minds  of  her  people 
an  appreciation  of  her  weakness,  and  of  the  necessity  for  the 
adoption  of  Occidental  methods  for  self-protection.  They 
saw  the  absolute  imbecility  of  continuing  the  pohcy  of  the 
Manchu  dynasty,  and  the  necessity  for  a  change  of  govern- 
ment. The  efforts  of  her  scholars  and  statesmen  were  for  a 
long  time  foiled  by  the  opposition  of  the  Empress  Dowager, 
who  never  hesitated  to  decapitate  those  who  presented  too 
radical  programmes  for  reform.  But  despite  all  opposition, 
the  new  spirit  grew  and  spread  all  over  the  country,  propa- 
gated by  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  and  other  reformers,  until  the 
revolution  followed,  and  the  Republic  became  a  reahty. 

The  Chinese  Republic  deserves  formal  recognition  because 
of  the  character  of  the  revolution  which  made  it  possible. 
It  obtained  the  maximum  of  liberty  with  the  minimum  of 
blood-shed.  It  was  an  evolution  rather  than  a  revolution, 
the  most  potent  factors  of  which  were  those  of  peace,  and 
not  of  war.  They  were  the  results  of  trade  with  foreign 
nations,  the  importation  of  modern  inventions,  railroads, 
telegraphs,  newspapers;  the  work  of  Christian  missionaries, 
schools  and  colleges  established  by  them;  but,  most  of  all,  the 
influence  of  Chinese  students  who  had  been  educated  in 
foreign  universities,  and  who  carried  back  to  their  native  land 
the  high  ideals  of  Occidental  government.  In  comparison 
with  the  epoch-making  wars  for  freedom  in  Occidental  lands 
— the  French  Revolution,  England's  fight  for  Magna  Charta, 
or  our  own  great  seven  years'  struggle  for  Independence — 
the  Chinese  Revolution  was  almost  bloodless.  It  is  stated 
that  the  total  mortality  of  the  war  which  secured  the  emanci- 
pation of  400,000,000  of  people,  was  less  than  the  number 
lost  in  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  or  in  single  conflicts 
in  the  war  now  raging  in  the  Balkans. 

The  moderation  shown  by  the  successful  leaders  to  their 


54  L.    L.    SEAMAN 

late  rulers  was  another  striking  characteristic.  Instead  of 
the  guillotine  or  exile,  they  were  retired  with  liberal  pensions, 
and  allowetl  to  retain  their  empty  titles.  The  leaders  en- 
joined upon  their  followers  the  protection  of  life  and  property, 
both  commercial  and  missionary,  and  these  orders  were 
strictly  obeyed. 

A  people  who  carried  to  a  successful  termination  such  a 
revolution,  deserve  the  respect  and  recognition  of  the  world. 
There  are  many  qualities  inherent  in  the  Chinese  nature 
which  entitle  the  present  government  to  immediate  recogni- 
tion. The  enemies  of  China  today  forget  the  traditions  of 
the  race — that  China  was  old  when  Chaldea  and  Babylon 
were  young,  that  she  saw  the  rise  and  fall  of  Grecian  and 
Roman  civilization,  and  that  she  has  maintained  the  integ- 
rity of  her  government  and  territory  ever  since;  that  her 
scholars  discovered  the  compass  and  invented  the  intellec- 
tual game  of  chess,  when  our  ancestors  in  Europe  were  grovel- 
ing in  the  darkness  of  mediaevalism;  that  she  produced  her 
own  science,  literature,  art,  philosophy  and  religion,  whose 
founder,  Confucius,  five  hundred  years  before  the  birth 
of  Christ,  expounded  the  doctrine  of  Christianity  in  the 
saying:  ''Do  not  do  unto  others  what  you  would  not  have 
others  do  unto  you."  They  forget  that  for  nearly  a  thousand 
years  China  has  been  nearer  a  democracy  in  many  features  of 
its  government  than  any  other  government  then  in  exist- 
ence. The  fundamental  unit  of  democracy,  the  foundation 
upon  which  our  own  government  rests,  is  embodied  in  the 
principle  of  the  New  England  town  meeting.  All  authori- 
ties on  democracy,  De  Tocqueville,  Bryce  and  the  Compte 
de  Paris,  agree  in  this. 

In  China,  local  government  is,  in  practically  all  its  features, 
and  for  centuries  has  been,  controlled  by  local  authorities. 
The  officials  of  the  central  government  never  interfere  with 
the  local  administration,  except  for  the  collection  of  reve- 
nues allocated  to  imperial  requirements.  It  is  the  opinion 
of  many  authorities  that  the  government  of  China  has 
given  more  happiness  and  more  individual  liberty  to  a 
greater  mass  of  humanity  than  any  other  government  in  the 
world. 


RECOGNITION   OF   THE   CHINESE   REPUBLIC  55 

The  Chinese  have  never  sought  territorial  aggrandize- 
ment, but  have  loved  the  paths  of  peace  where  the  law  of 
moral  suasion,  and  not  of  might,  ruled.  They  possess  quali- 
ties of  industry-,  economy,  temperance  and  tranquillity, 
unsurpassed  by  any  nation  on  earth.  With  these  qualities 
they  are  in  the  great  race  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  to 
stay.  They  are  to  be  feared  by  foreign  nations  more  for 
their  virtues  than  for  their  vices;  and  in  their  present  struggle 
for  the  maintenance  of  liberty,  they  deserve  our  earnest 
sympathy  and  assistance  in  the  solution  of  problems,  seem- 
ingly so  different,  but  inherently  so  similar  to  our  own. 

The  noble  qualities  of  the  race  are  illustrated  in  the  leaders 
of  the  present  movement.  President  Yuan  Shih  Kai  is  a 
masterful  statesman  who  inspires  confidence  in  all  who  know 
him.  Few  other  men  in  history  have  had  such  kaleidoscopic 
changes  of  fortune,  and  few  men  have  met  them  with  greater 
courage  or  possessed  the  transcendent  abilities  that  lift  one 
so  high  above  the  common  level.  The  resignation  of  the 
provisional  presidency  of  the  Republic  by  Dr.  Sun  Yat-Sen 
was  ''an  act  worthy  of  the  finest  traditions  of  patriotism  in 
any  land."  The  National  Assembly  in  accepting  it,  said: 
''His  act  has  afforded  the  world  an  example  of  purity  of 
purpose  and  self-sacrifice  unparalleled  in  history." 

The  Republic  is  an  established  institution  of  over  a  year's 
standing.  An  able  statesman  has  been  duly  elected  as  presi- 
dent and  the  other  machinery  of  its  government  is  in  opera- 
tion. It  has  undertaken  to  observe  all  treaties,  and  to  dis- 
charge all  the  international  obligations  of  its  predecessor. 
No  one  will  deny  that  there  are  serious  military,  financial 
and  political  problems  still  to  be  solved,  but  they  are  matters 
of  purely  domestic  concern.  They  do  not  alter  the  fact, 
which  is  involved  in  recognition  by  other  nations,  that  China 
has  changed  her  form  of  government,  and  that  her  represen- 
tative and  duly  accredited  agent  before  the  world  is  no 
longer  an  emperor,  but  a  president.  In  the  analogous  case 
of  the  recognition  of  Brazil  in  1890,  Senator  Turpie  said: 
"The  success  of  a  revolutionary  movement  is  in  itself  a 
statement  to  the  world  that  a  majority  of  a  nation  has 
chosen  a  change  of  government;  the  following  existence  of 


56  L.    L.    SEAMAN 

the  revolutionary  government,  and  under  its  authority,  will 
come  the  question  of  the  constitution,  laws,  statutes  and 
ordinances  of  the  new  government,  but  these  questions  are 
wholly  internal  ones." 

Many  authorities  on  international  law  support  the  legal 
status  of  the  present  government.  Hall  says:  "So  long  as  a 
person  or  a  body  of  persons  are  indisputably  in  possession 
of  the  required  powers,  foreign  states  treat  with  them  as  the 
organ  of  the  state;  but  so  soon  as  they  cease  to  be  the  actual 
organ,  foreign  states  cease  dealing  with  them;  and  it  is  usual, 
if  the  change  is  unquestionably  final,  to  open  relations  with 
their  uccessors,  independently  of  whether  it  has  been  ef- 
fected constitutionally."  Wheaton  defines  a  de  facto  gov- 
ernment as  ' '  One  which  is  really  in  possession  of  the  powers 
of  sovereignty,  although  the  possession  may  be  wrongful 
or  precarious."  Phillimore  states,  "That  the  recognition  of 
a  new  government  should  be  preceded  by  an  absolute 
bona  fide  possession  of  independence  as  a  separate  kingdom, 
not  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  and  undisturbed  internal  tran- 
quillity (a  test  too  severe  for  many  of  the  oldest  kingdoms), 
but  there  should  be  the  existence  of  a  government — acknowl- 
edged by  the  people  over  whom  it  is  set,  and  ready  to 
acknowledge  and  competent  to  discharge  international 
obligations."  The  present  conditions  in  China  satisfy 
these  definitions  of  a  de  facto  government. 

But  the  Republic  of  China  is  not  only  the  de  facto  govern- 
ment, it  is  also  the  de  jure  government.  As  stated  by  Dr. 
Chao-Chu  Wu,  son  of  ex-Minister  Wu  Ting  Fang,  "the  Man- 
chu  rulers  were  not  illegally  driven  from  the  throne,  but  they 
abdicated  of  themselves,  and  with  their  last  act  legalized 
the  Repubhc.  The  abdication  edict  transfers  the  sovereignty 
hitherto  vested  in  the  emperor  alone,  to  the  people;  it  legal- 
izes the  Republic,  and,  what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  it  con- 
stitutes a  recognition  of  the  new  government  by  the  sov- 
ereign power."  Hall  says:  "Recognition  by  a  parent  state, 
by  implying  an  abandonment  of  all  pretensions  over  the 
insurgent  community,  is  more  conclusive  evidence  of  inde- 
pendence than  recognition  by  a  third  power,  and  it  removes 
all  doubt  from  the  minds  of  other  governments  as  to  the 


RECOGNITION   OF   THE   CHINESE   REPUBLIC  57 

propriety  of  recognition  by  themselves."  When  the  fallen 
government  of  China  has  itself  recognized  the  new  govern- 
ment, what  reason  is  there  for  other  governments  to  delay? 

For  the  reasons  enumerated — the  status  of  the  present 
government  of  China,  the  virtues  of  the  Chinese  race,  the 
character  of  the  Revolution  in  which  these  virtues  have  found 
their  expression  in  bringing  about  the  change  of  government, 
for  all  these  reasons,  the  RepubHc  of  China  is  deserving  of 
immediate  recognition  by  the  nations  of  the  world.  But 
there  are  special  reasons  why  recognition  should  be  accorded 
by  our  government  first  of  all. 

Special  obligations  are  laid  upon  us  of  the  United  States 
by  our  position  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  as  the  most  powerful 
repubhc  in  existence,  and  one  of  the  oldest.  The  President 
of  the  United  States  is  rightly  regarded  as  "the  champion 
and  exponent  of  that  form  of  government  consecrated  by 
the  blood  of  our  Revolutionary  fathers."  Our  own  republi- 
can principles  justify  China  in  looking  to  us  for  sympathy 
and  support  in  this  hour  of  crisis  and  of  need. 

Such  an  expectation  is  warranted  by  our  dealings  with 
other  nations.  Numerous  precedents  might  be  cited  to 
show  that  it  has  always  been  the  policy  of  the  United  States 
government  to  recognize  the  existence  of  a  government 
which  was  capable  of  maintaining  itself.  Our  relations  with 
France  illustrate  this.  On  November  7,  1792,  in  reply  to  a 
letter  from  Gouverneur  Morris,  then  American  Minister  to 
Paris,  describing  the  bloody  revolution  which  had  just  been 
effected  in  that  capital,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Secretary  of 
State,  wrote  as  follows:  "It  accords  with  our  principles  to 
acknowledge  any  government  to  be  rightful  which  is  formed 
by  the  will  of  the  nation  substantially  declared."  Later  he 
added:  "We  surely  cannot  deny  to  any  nation  that  right 
whereon  our  own  government  is  founded — that  every  one 
may  govern  itself  according  to  whatever  form  it  pleases,  and 
change  these  forms  at  its  own  will;  and  that  it  may  transact 
its  business  with  foreign  nations  through  whatever  organ  it 
thinks  proper,  whether  king,  convention,  assembly,  com- 
mittee, president,  or  anything  else  it  may  choose.  The  will 
of  the  nation  is  the  only  thing  essential  to  be  regarded." 


58  L.    L.    SEAMAN 

Tlio  establishment  of  the  Second  Republic  occurred  on  the 
24th  of  February,  1848,  and  less  than  a  week  after  our  Minis- 
ter to  France,  Mr.  Rush,  presented  the  formal  congratula- 
tions of  our  government.  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  transmitting 
to  Mr.  Rush  a  letter  of  credence  to  the  French  Republic,  said: 
"In  its  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  the  government  of 
the  United  States  has,  from  its  origin,  always  recognized  the 
de  facto  governments.  We  recognize  the  right  of  all  nations 
to  create  and  reform  their  political  institutions  according 
to  their  own  will  and  pleasure.  We  do  not  go  behind  the 
existing  government  to  involve  ourselves  in  the  question  of 
its  legitimacy.  It  is  suflScient  for  us  to  know  that  a  govern- 
ment exists  capable  of  maintaining  itself;  and  then  its  recog- 
nition on  our  part  inevitably  follows."  Even  as  late  as 
September  8,  1900,  Mr.  Hill,  acting  Secretary  of  State, 
sent  to  Mr.  Hart,  United  States  Minister  at  Bogota,  the 
following  instructions:  ''The  policy  of  the  United  States, 
announced  and  practiced  upon  occasion  for  more  than  a 
century,  has  been  and  is  to  refrain  from  acting  upon  con- 
flicting claims  to  the  de  jure  control  of  the  executive  power  of 
a  foreign  state;  but  to  base  the  recognition  of  a  foreign  gov- 
ernment solely  upon  its  de  facto  ability  to  hold  the  reins  of 
administrative  power."  In  withholding  recognition  from 
the  Republic  of  China,  the  present  administration  is  depart- 
ing from  the  policy  of  the  great  founders  of  our  nation. 

There  are  questions  in  expediency  and  advantage  as  well 
as  of  principle  in  this  matter  of  recognition.  We  may  well 
consider  what  some  of  these  results  would  be.  First,  China 
would  be  encouraged  and  strengthened  in  her  efforts  for 
reform  and  education.  Evidences  of  the  educational  awaken- 
ing are  coming  from  every  part  of  the  land.  The  Canton 
Christian  college  may  be  taken  as  typical.  The  number  of 
students  in  that  institution  has  increased  from  256  to  418  in 
one  term,  and  the  Chinese  residents  there  have  recently 
given  over  $80,000  (equivalent  to  many  times  that  in 
purchasing  power  here)  for  new  buildings  and  equipment 
of  the  college.  The  new  Commissioner  of  Education  in 
Kwang-Tung  Province  has  secured  the  appropriation  of 


RECOGNITION   OF   THE   CHINESE   REPUBLIC  59 

$100,000  gold  for  the  education  abroad  of  the  students  of 
the  province. 

A  second  result  of  recognition  would  be  the  stimulation  of 
trade  between  China  and  the  nations  of  the  West.  When 
the  international  relations  of  China  are  restored  to  normal 
condition,  trade,  which  has  already  regained  most  of  the 
ground  lost  during  the  disturbances,  will  assuredly  rapidly 
increase.  By  recognizing  the  Republic  the  powers  will, 
without  distinction,  confer  a  boon  on  the  business  commu- 
nities of  their  respective  nations.  Missionaries  and  other 
representatives  of  western  nations  in  China,  also,  would  be 
benefited  by  the  recognition  of  the  Republic.  Though  the 
Revolution  has  been  guarded  from  assuming  any  anti- 
foreign  or  anti-missionary  character,  until  perfect  order  is 
established  there  must  be  risk  for  foreigners  traveling  in  the 
interior.  Dr.  Wu  states:  ''It  is  within  the  power  of  the 
foreign  countries  to  reinforce  the  hand  of  the  government, 
to  extend  to  it  moral  support,  and  give  it  added  prestige 
to  hasten  the  complete  restoration  of  order,  and  to  insure  the 
safety  of  their  citizens  and  subjects  throughout  the  vast 
Republic." 

The  greatest  advantage  to  be  gained  by  the  speedy  recog- 
nition by  all  nations  would  be  the  prevention  of  intervention 
on  the  part  of  some  which  are  only  waiting  an  opportunity  to 
appropriate  Chinese  territory,  just  as  they  did  with  the  conti- 
nent of  Africa  some  thirty  years  ago.  The  partitioning  of 
China  would  be  a  crime  even  greater  than  the  partitioning  of 
Poland,  and  one  fraught  with  far  more  serious  consequences 
to  the  human  race  as  a  whole. 

The  Chinese  Revolution  was  not  a  coup  d'etat,  without 
likelihood  of  permanence;  the  old  monarchy  is  hopelessly 
dead.  The  revolution  was  complete,  and  peace  reigns 
throughout  the  land.  The  new  government  is  without 
opposition.  It  is  confronted  with  many  difficulties,  but 
they  do  not  spring  from  the  attachment  of  people  to  the 
departed  monarchy.  As  stated  by  Dr.  Morrison  in  the 
London  Times,  when  referring  to  the  danger  of  China's 
splitting  up,  ''Where  is  the  line  of  cleavage?    Both  parties 


60  L.    L.    SEAMAN 

in  China  are  equally  republican.  Those  who  allege  that 
President  Yuan  is  assuming  a  dictatorship  are  ignoring  the 
facts  of  his  career."  And  to  the  critics  who  charge  that  the 
President's  Council  is  composed  of  hostile  factions,  whose 
quarrels  threaten  the  continuance  of  the  Republic,  he  says: 
"Nothing  could  be  more  misleading.  These  parties  differ 
in  their  programmes  as  political  parties  do  in  all  countries, 
but  all  are  equally  republican."  To  those  who  think  it  is  a 
reproach  and  a  danger  that  the  new  men  active  in  the  gov- 
ernment are  inexperienced,  he  replies,  that  the  difference 
can  be  shown  by  comparing  them  with  the  ''corrupt  princes 
and  degraded  eunuchs  who  were  in  power  under  the  Manchu 
dynasty." 

Given  recognition  by  foreign  goverrmients,  freedom  from 
overt  acts  of  predatory  powers,  and  the  right  to  increase  her 
own  customs,  now  limited  to  5  per  cent — a  right  wrung  from 
her  by  foreigners  to  secure  their  unholy  indemnities — China 
will  pay  all  her  obligations,  no  matter  how  unrighteous. 
The  ruling  characteristic  of  the  Chinaman  is  honesty.  He 
never  repudiates  his  financial  obligations. 

I  hold  in  my  hand  a  Chinese  bank  note  for  a  thousand 
cash  issued  by  the  great  Ming  Emperor  Hung  Wu,  in  the 
year  1367.  It  is  the  most  ancient  piece  of  financial  paper 
in  existence,  excepting  some  duplicates,  one  of  which  I 
presented  to  the  British  Museum  several  years  ago.  It  is 
three  hundred  years  older  than  a  somewhat  similar  looking 
note  for  which  the  British  Museum  paid  Pope  Hennessy 
500  pounds,  and  which,  until  this  was  discovered,  was  sup- 
posed to  be  the  oldest  in  the  world.  The  lower  panel  con- 
tains the  following,  as  translated  by  Professor  H.  B.  Morse, 
Commissioner  of  Customs  and  Inspectorate  General  of 
Customs  of  China:  "The  Imperial  Board  of  Revenue,  hav- 
ing memorialized  the  Throne,  has  received  the  Imperial 
sanction  for  the  issue  of  Government  notes  of  the  Ming 
Empire,  to  circulate  on  the  same  footing  as  standard  cash. 
To  counterfeit  is  death.  The  informant  will  receive  250 
taels  of  silver,  and  in  addition,  the  entire  property  of  the 
criminal. — Signed,  Hung  Wu."  A  seal  in  vermilion  bears 
in  character  the  legend:  "Seal  for  circulating  Government 


RECOGNITION   OF   THE   CHINESE   REPUBLIC  61 

Notes."  It  is  shown  as  an  authentic  proof  of  the  antiquity 
of  the  Chinaman's  knowledge  of  matters  financial,  at  a  time 
when  the  ancestors  of  the  six  powers  syndicate  were  groping 
in  the  darkness  of  feudalism^ — matters  in  which  the  China- 
man has  always  borne  the  unique  distinction  of  being  the 
soul  of  honor. 

The  integrity  of  the  Chinese  as  a  people  is  proverbial. 
Their  former  despotic  government,  despite  its  innate  cor- 
ruption, never  failed  to  observe  its  financial  obligations  to 
its  former  creditors,  however  unjustly  incurred.  The  gov- 
ernment of  the  Republic  has  solemnly  undertaken  to  faith- 
fully execute  all  the  obligations  to  the  foreign  powers,  under 
existing  treaties,  notwithstanding  the  onerous  burden  en- 
tailed upon  the  people,  and  which,  considering  their  enforced 
origin,  might  with  some  reason  have  justified  repudiation. 
Apart  from  the  credit  for  past  performances,  faithfully 
observed,  and  the  normal  revenues  from  trade,  commerce 
and  the  usual  taxes,  the  natural  resources  of  the  land  are 
incalculable.  Of  their  development,  a  beginning,  by  modern 
methods,  has  only  yet  been  made;  but  where  it  has  been, 
every  encouragement  exists  for  extensive  exploitation  to  the 
great  advantage  of  the  people,  as  well  as  of  capital  involved 
in  such  industrial  enterprises.  The  extension  of  railways 
also  affords  scope  for  large  investments,  which  are  attract- 
ing attention  in  all  quarters,  to  provide  means  of  internal 
commerce,  now  carried  on  by  most  primitive  methods.  These 
and  other  considerations  justify  recourse  to  the  bankers  of 
the  world  for  assistance  on  equitable  conditions  toward 
their  development. 

With  such  a  reputation  for  honor,  and  such  tempting 
opportunities  for  the  successful  employment  of  capital  in  her 
domain,  why  should  China  be  forced  to  accept  humiliating 
and  ignominious  terms  to  obtain  credit — terms  never  before 
demanded  of  any  other  nation?  Consider  Japan — that  other 
great  star  of  the  Orient — whose  natural  resources  are  incom- 
parably less  than  those  of  China.  When  her  very  existence 
as  a  nation  was  at  stake  in  a  war  with  one  of  the  most  power- 
ful countries  of  Europe,  it  was  my  privilege  as  well  as  pleas- 
ure to  appear  with  Count  Kaneko  before  a  syndicate  of 


62  L.    L.    SEAMAN 

bankers  wlio  were  considering  the  advisability  and  risk  of 
underwriting  her  loan — and  to  urge  its  acceptance.  I  had 
seen  the  Japanese  army  in  action  and  believed  in  its  final 
triumph,  and  that  her  people  would  ultimately  pay  her 
obligations.  But  were  any  such  monstrous  conditions  de- 
manded from  her  by  the  underwriters  as  are  now  sought  by 
the  sextuple  syndicate  in  dealing  with  China?  On  the  con- 
trary, Japan  secured  the  money  necessary  to  carry  on  her 
campaign  on  easy  tenns,  although  her  success  in  the  titanic 
struggle  in  which  she  was  then  engaged  was,  at  that  time,  by 
no  means  a  certainty. 

In  the  case  of  China,  peace  reigns,  and  yet,  before  the 
great  financiers  consent  to  the  issuance  of  a  loan,  it  is  asserted 
that  they  demand  the  right  of  a  close  supervision  of  its 
expenditure,  that  it  be  ear-marked  for  purposes  acceptable 
to  them,  that  it  shall  not  be  available  for  military  or  naval 
defence,  so  essential  for  the  future  protection  of  the  country; 
that  no  other  loans  or  obligations  shall  be  made  by  China 
without  the  consent  of  the  syndicate,  and  that  certain  rev- 
enues be  allotted  for  its  security.  These  terms  the  states- 
men of  China  refused  and  they  have  had  the  temerity  to 
negotiate  an  independent  loan  for  $50,000,000  in  opposition 
to  the  will  of  the  six-power  syndicate. 

On  the  question  of  China's  finances,  the  London  Times 
said,  after  floating  of  the  first  instalment  of  the  $50,000,- 
000  loan,  w^hich  w^as  half  of  the  smn,  that  it  "rejoices  that 
the  British  people  have  manifested  a  different  spirit  from 
that  of  their  government."  It  condemns  the  goverrmient 
for  backing  up  the  monopoly;  it  declares  that  the  six-power 
group  had  "sought  to  set  up  a  monopoly  in  China  under  the 
aegis  of  international  diplomacy."  It  also  declares  that  the 
liabilities  of  the  country  to  June  next,  including  indemnity 
arrears,  wdll  amount  to  10,000,000  sterling  and  that  "much 
is  dependent  upon  the  generosity  of  the  foreign  governments 
and  the  banking  interests." 

According  to  Dr.  Morrison,  the  political  adviser  of  the 
Chinese  government,  China  has  entered  upon  a  new  era  of 
prosperity,  and  by  the  skill  and  judgment  of  her  financiers 
has  shaken  herself  free  from  international  complications. 


EECOGNITION   OF   THE   CHINESE   REPUBLIC  63 

The  London  Morning  Post  (Conservative)  remarks  gloom- 
ily:    ''The  prospectus  of  the  new  Chinese  loan  has  been 

duly  issued The  British  government  has  been 

roundly  accused  of  lending  itself  to  a  plot  for  placing 
China  at  the  mercy  of  a  syndicate  of  greedy  financiers,  and 
for  establishing  a  degrading  system  of  foreign  control  over 
her  internal  affairs.  The  breaking  off  of  the  negotiations 
between  the  Chinese  government  and  the  six-power  banking 
group  and  the  conclusion  of  the  loan  agreement  with  the 
London  financiers  have  been  hailed  as  a  destruction  of  the 
selfish  monopoly  which  was  strangling  the  freedom  of  the 
young  Repubhc."  The  London  Daily  News  continues,  *'It 
is  a  battle  of  giants,  for  behind  the  six  powers  there  is  a 
greedy  banking  monopoly  which  has  hitherto  been  unchal- 
lenged, and  behind  this  monopoly  there  is  a  complicated 
network  of  international  intrigue,  partly  German,  partly 
American,  partly  Russian  and  partly  Japanese,"  and  I  think 
we  may  add,  largely  English. 

On  October  30,  1912,  one  of  the  interested  powers,  Russia, 
proposed  that  a  joint  and  pre-emptory  demand  be  made  upon 
China  for  the  immediate  payment  of  arrears  in  the  Boxer 
indemnity,  the  sum  amounting  to  $50,000,000.  It  was  pri- 
vately intimated,  and  not  officially  denied,  that  this  move- 
ment, made  on  October  30,  was  intended  as  an  emphatic 
rebuke  to  the  Chinese  for  their  temerity  in  contracting  loans 
with  independent  bankers;  disregarding  the  warning  of  the 
powers,  and  their  rejection  of  the  proposed  loan  by  the  six- 
power  syndicate.  It  is  stated  on  high  authority  that  the 
powers  of  Europe  look  favorably  upon  this  proposal.  In 
taking  the  initiative  in  the  movement  to  compel  China  to 
accept  the  proposal  of  the  six-power  syndicate,  and  the 
refusal  on  China's  part  to  accept  the  terms,  Russia,  as  stated 
in  reports  received  on  November  7,  has  been  led  to  negotiate 
with  one  of  China's  provinces,  Mongolia,  a  treaty,  signed  on 
November  3,  by  which  she  agrees  to  aid  Mongolia  to  main- 
tain the  autonomous  government  which  she  has  established, 
and  to  support  her  right  to  maintain  a  national  army,  and 
to  exclude  both  the  presence  of  Chinese  troops  and  the  coloni- 
zation of  her  territory  by  the  Chinese. 


64  L.    L.    SEAMAN 

In  this  act  Russia  is  following  the  lead  of  her  ally,  Great 
Britain,  who  not  lonp;  tx^o  proclaimed  what  amounts  to  a 
protectorate  over  the  territory  of  Thibet,  just  as,  on  a  recent 
occasion,  Great  Britain  joined  Russia  in  their  monstrous  and 
disgraceful  treatment  of  Persia.  It  is  the  consummation 
of  the  policy  of  "squeeze"  that  has  been  carried  on  ever 
since  China  opened  her  doors,  at  the  mouth  of  the  cannon, 
to  the  crime  of  the  century,  the  opium  trade  of  England, 
and  later,  to  so-called  modern  civilization. 

Thus  it  seems  that  the  vivisection  of  the  sick  man  of  the 
Far  East  may  proceed  merrily,  without  consideration  for  the 
interests  or  sentiments  of  the  patient  under  the  scalpel. 
This  at  the  moment  seems  to  be  the  lamentable  result  of  the 
action  of  the  six-power  syndicate.  It  seems  apparent  that 
the  famous  combination  has  signally  failed  in  its  financial 
policy,  despite  governmental  assistance,  and  that  nothing 
has  been  gained  by  the  delay  in  the  recognition  of  the 
Republic.     But  what  has  been  lost? 

By  formally  recognizing  the  new  government  as  soon  as 
it  had  demonstrated  its  right  to  such  recognition,  America 
would  have  followed  the  splendid  traditions  of  our  forebears, 
who  enunciated  and  practiced  the  laws  of  justice  and  liberty 
which  made  our  country  great,  and  from  whose  teachings 
we  have  departed  too  far.  We  would  have  had  the  proud 
distinction  of  being  the  first  to  welcome  the  Republic  in  its 
hour  of  trial.  We  would  have  secured  the  eternal  friendship 
and  respect  of  a  nation,  which,  no  matter  what  adversity 
it  may  yet  have  to  face,  is  destined  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
and  grandest  on  earth.  We  would  have  immeasurably 
increased  our  prestige  in  the  Orient,  and  possibly,  by  pro- 
claiming the  policy  of  "hands  off"  and  the  "open  door"  in 
China,  averted  the  tragedy  that  now  seems  almost  inevitable. 

Is  there  anyone  present  who  believes  that  if  John  Hay 
had  been  in  the  Department  of  State  during  the  past  year,  the 
republic  of  China  would  not  have  been  recognized  long  ago? 
Had  his  policy  been  followed  directly  after  the  abdication  of 
the  Manchu  dynasty,  China,  in  the  opinion  of  well-informed 
authorities,  would  have  escaped  many  of  the  dangers  now 
menacing  her.     Time  was,  in  the  history  of  American  diplo- 


EECOGNITION   OF   THE    CHINESE   EEPUBLIC  65 

macy,  when  our  Executive  acted  upon  the  recognition  of 
downtrodden  nations  which  had  emancipated  themselves 
from  tyranny  and  estabhshed  repubhcan  forms  of  govern- 
ment, without  consultation  or  dictation  from  Lombard  or 
Wall  Street.  The  majority  of  our  people  are,  and  from  the 
first  have  been,  in  sincere  sympathy  with  China  in  her 
struggle  for  Uberty.  Is  their  will  to  be  carried  out  or  is 
liberty,  and  opportunity,  to  be  throttled  and  made  subser- 
vient to  a  group  of  capitalists  who  seek  to  monopolize  the 
privilege  of  dictatorship? 

Ill  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates,  and  men  decay. 


THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  REVOLUTION 

IN  CHINA  FROM  A  SOUTH  CHINA 

STANDPOINT 

By  John  Stuart  Thomson,  sometime  Agent  at  Hong  Kong, 

China,  of  the  Pacific  Mail  and  Toyo  Kisen  Kaisha 

Trans-Pacific  Steamship  Companies 

Many  have  thought  of,  many  have  spoken  on  the  Chi- 
nese revolution,  but  each  onlooker  probably  sees  it  in  slightly 
varjdng  lights,  as  the  matter  has  very  many  sides.  With 
your  permission  I  will  add  a  few  statements,  trying  to  out- 
line the  genesis  of  the  astonishing  movement  as  it  appeared 
to  me,  and  selecting  some  salient  points  while  the  revolution 
was  in  progress.  I  lived  longest  in  south  China,  which 
section  has  thought  longest  on  revolution,  and  I  will  there- 
fore speak  largely  as  a  neighbor  of  the  southern  Chinese, 
but  I  will  always  remember  that  every  ''National"  has  his 
inalienable  right  to  free  opinion  and  his  opinion  and  per- 
sonality I  have  hearty  respect  for.  "A  man's  a  man  for 
a'  that!" 

A  republic  in  place  of  the  oldest  monarchy !  Preposterous. 
It  would  involve  making  a  yellow  man  think  as  a  white 
man,  and  that  had  never  occurred.  It  would  involve  free 
intercourse  with  the  whole  wide  world,  and  China  had 
opposed  such  an  innovation  stubbornly  for  400  years.  It 
meant  that  the  proudest  and  most  self-contained  nation 
should  treat  others  as  equals  and  interchange  with  them.  It 
involved  throwing  4000  years  of  continuous  history  and 
agglomerated  pride  and  precedent  to  the  winds,  and  humbly 
beginning  anew  as  a  tyro  for  a  while.  It  meant  the  deaUng 
with  400,000,000  kings,  instead  of  one,  and  asking,  "My 
lord!  what  is  your  will."  An  educational  system  2000 
years  old  to  be  at  once  forgotten!  a  religion  5000  years  old 
at  least,  whereby  every  man  had  his  own  god  (his  father) 
to  be  made  as  cheap  as  the  paltry  sacrifices  of  wine,  rice 

66 


THE    REPUBLICAN   REVOLUTION    IN    CHINA  67 

and  the  painted  stick  of  Confucianism,  were  in  reality! 
The  taking  up  of  individual  and  national  responsibility 
for  400,000,000  people,  and  entrance  upon  a  wide  path  of 
world-influence,  with  its  divided  shame  and  fame.  The 
taking  and  giving  of  blows  for  wrong  and  right.  The  giving 
up  of  the  triple  eternal  Nirvana  of  father,  self  and  son,  in 
exchange  for  an  exciting  role  limited  to  55  crowded  years 
in  the  individual.  The  scale  of  the  action!  A  land  as 
large  as  all  Europe,  and  a  people  as  numerous  as  the  Cau- 
casic  race.  The  thunderous  knock  on  the  long-locked  doors 
of  science  and  medicine  by  400,000,000  people,  who  had 
bowed  to  idol  and  charm  alone.  It  shook  the  world.  It 
was  pregnant  with  Paradisial  possibilities  for  mankind, 
because  of  the  vastness  of  the  movement,  and  the  depth  of 
its  wellspring.  The  launching  of  this  new  Leviathan  ship 
of  state  could  not  but  raise  a  wave  that  would  lift  the 
already  floating  hulks  of  Europe  and  America,  and  give 
them  added  impetus,  though  temporary  alarm.  The 
rearrangement  of  commerce,  manufacture,  labor,  finance, 
taxation,  learning,  agriculture,  art,  and  possibly  religion  for 
the  whole  world.  The  adding  of  the  most  difficult  language 
to  the  tongues  and  pens  of  men,  and  the  call  on  the  English 
speech  to  rise  once  more  greater  th^n  the  mighty  stranger, 
or  pale  before  the  light  of  his  march.  The  challenge  to  Pal- 
estine's Bible  to  conquer  by  truth  and  love,  or  retreat  with 
half  a  world  lost.  The  uprising  again  of  the  yellow  ghosts 
of  Kublai  Khan,  Batu,  Timurlane,  and  the  Khans  of  the 
Golden  Horde.  What  would  be  the  Caucasian's  answer  to 
Emperor  Wilham's  question  "The  Yellow  Peril?"  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  briUiant  Kaiser  once  painted  a 
picture  showing  the  nations  of  Europe  gathering  to  defend 
the  cross  of  Calvary  and  civilization  against  an  incendiary 
Buddha  lowering  in  the  eastern  sky.  Would  the  stranger 
within  the  gates  be  protected,  even  while  republican  and 
imperialist  fought  out  their  argument?  Would  leadership 
arise,  and  would  the  great  Mongolian  mass  be  intellect- 
ualized  now  that  it  was  energized?  Since  the  vast  body  was 
suddenly  displaced,  would  it  henceforward  move  by  mere 
gravity,  or  sympathetic  volition?     Could  it  collectivize  and 


G8  JOHN   STUART  THOMSON 

not  disintegrate?  What  would  be  the  effect  on  the  scores 
of  trembling  thrones,  where  Romanoff,  Hapsburg,  Savoy, 
Ilohenzollern,  Ottoman,  Bilhken,  etc.  said  they  ruled  by 
"divine  right."  which  is  quite  a  different  thing  from  noble 
England's  "constitutional  right."  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  and 
the  Chinese  republicans  sent  out  this  challenge:  "Tien  ming 
wu  chang"  (the  di\ine  right  lasts  not  forever).  All  these 
questions  presented  themselves  when  the  reformers  startled 
the  world  with  the  announcement  that  there  was  to  be  a 
republic  in  China.  It  was  to  be  a  republic — not  a  monarchy 
— said  even  those  Chinese  who  had  been  educated  in  Japan. 
Had  there  been  no  abatement  of  the  opium  habit  through 
America's  leadership  of  sentiment,  and  Britain's  sacrifice 
of  revenue  from  1909  to  1911,  there  could  have  been  no 
rebellion  as  early  as  1911.  The  reform  cleared  the  befogged 
heads  of  the  nation,  added  a  million  men  to  agitation,  and 
furnished  a  hundred  million  dollars  directly  and  indirectly 
toward  the  independence  of  the  agitators.  How  great  a 
stone  America  and  Britain  set  rolling  in  that  Opium  Con- 
ference of  1909  at  Shanghai. 

The  great  revolution  of  October,  1911,  did  not  drop  as  a 
bolt  from  a  clear  sky.  The  clouds  had  been  gathering, 
though  many  at  home  and  abroad  did  not,  or  would  not 
see  them.  In  September,  1911,  the  Imperial  Viceroy  of 
Canton,  Chang  Ming  Chi,  sent  spies  along  the  new  Canton- 
Hong  Kong  Railway  to  apprehend  smugglers  of  arms.  In 
the  same  month,  troops  under  the  command  of  Marshal 
Lung  Chai  Kwong  suddenly  surrounded  the  office  of  Shat 
Pat  Po  newspaper  at  Canton,  and  arrested  several  reformers, 
who  had  been  blacklisted  for  opinion's  sake.  General  Luk 
Wing  Ting  of  Kwangsi  province  came  down  the  Si  Kiang 
(West  River)  in  September  1911  in  the  gunboat  Po  Pik  to 
Canton,  and  took  back  with  him  from  the  Canton  arsenal, 
machine  guns  and  ammunition  to  attack  the  "anarchists," 
as  the  Manchus  persistently  called  all  reformers.  In  the 
month  previous  the  Ministry  of  Posts  and  Communica- 
tions at  Peking  stopped  the  use  of  private  codes,  so  as  to 
censor  messages  to  the  reformers.  Several  viceroys,  in  secret 
sympathy  with  the  reformers,  had  as  early  as  August,  1911, 


THE    REPUBLICAN    REVOLUTION   IN    CHINA  69 

wired  for  gunboats,  so  as  to  disperse  the  fleet  from  the 
Yangtse  basin,  where  the  revolution  was  to  strike,  and  the 
largest  cruiser,  the  splendid  Hai  Chi,  well  known  in  New 
York,  these  viceroys  suggested  should  be  sent  to  King 
George's  coronation  review  at  Spithead.  Even  as  far  back 
as  July,  1907,  the  Manchu  government  approached  the 
powers,  requesting  that  they  make  espionage  on  arms  con- 
signed to  south  China.  Rather  to  our  amusement,  they 
used  to  arrive  at  Hong  Kong  as  boxed  pipes,  condensers, 
plumber's  supplies,  bar  iron,  crockery,  tracts,  etc.,  anything 
but  guns,  but  that  was  the  humor  of  the  freight  classifica- 
tion which  the  shippers  used.  In  December,  1906,  the 
scholars  of  the  Middle  Class  in  Wuchow,  Kiangsi  province, 
at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  West  River,  decided  to 
cut  off  their  queues,  and  adopted  khaki  uniform,  military 
drill  and  track  races.  They  were  independently  preparing 
for  strenuous  times  five  years  before  the  outbreak,  and  these 
boys  were  found  in  the  first  Une  of  the  attack  in  October, 
1911,  up  at  Hankow,  led  by  Colonel  Wen,  who  had  gradu- 
ated from  West  Point  Military  Academy  in  America  in 
1909.  In  August,  1911,  the  Hong  Kong  and  Shanghai 
Banking  Corporation  reported  that  a  large  part  of  its  $9,- 
000,000  gold  note  issue  was  being  held,  instead  of  circulated 
by  the  Chinese  of  Kwangtung  and  other  southern  provinces. 
This  hoarding  of  safe  securities  always  indicates  lack  of 
faith  as  to  the  business  and  political  future. 

The  celebrated  Manchu,  Tuan  Fang,  Director  General 
of  Railways  was  ordered  by  the  Ministry  of  Communica- 
tions to  proceed  to  Canton  and  Kung  Yik,  the  new  town  of 
the  Americanized  Chinese,  in  August,  1911,  to  '' pacify  the 
people."  Tuan  replied  that  he  would  not  go  and  gave  as 
his  excuse:  ''Canton  is  infested  with  anarchism."  In  the 
same  month,  the  Regent,  Prince  Chun,  asked  the  veteran 
Prince  Ching  to  recommend  an  energetic  general  to  be  sent 
to  quell  disturbances  in  Kwangtung  province,  and  the  Tar- 
tar General,  Fung  Shan,  was  sent.  Spying  was  not  uncom- 
mon, impersonators  going  to  a  province  ahead  of  new 
appointees,  and  reciting  a  record  at  the  Yamen  which  seemed 
to  identify  them.     In  August,  1911,  the  Cabinet  at  Peking 


70  JOHN    STUART   THOMSON 

decided  to  send  photographs  of  new  officials  in  a  sealed  envel- 
ope, so  as  to  proxont  this  impersonating.  As  an  indication 
of  the  new  spirit  which  was  moving  among  the  Chinese  of 
Canton  for  better  things  at  this  time,  take  the  inception  of 
the  model  town  of  Heungchow.  Chinese  returned  from 
America,  Singapore,  Hong  Kong,  and  Shanghai,  could  not 
bear  the  municipal  restraint  of  the  old  Chinese  city.  They 
chose  a  site  ten  miles  up  the  inner  harbor  of  Macao.  Dredg- 
ing and  a  breakwater  were  begun  for  a  harbor.  Broad 
streets,  drains,  fine  stores,  temples,  police  and  fire  stations 
and  equipment,  water  works,  libraries,  parks,  reforestation 
in  tree  denuded  China,  Chamber  of  Conmierce,  tramways, 
electricity  and  gas,  hospitals,  schools,  theatres,  detached 
homes  with  gardens,  launch  and  steamship  lines,  and  a  free 
port,  all  were  in  the  scheme.  When  a  government  permits 
monopoly  of  food,  and  riots  result  because  of  justice 
ineffectually  exerted,  history  shows  that  the  government  is 
about  to  fall.  I  instance  the  fierce  Hangchow  rice  riots 
of  July,  1906,  under  the  leadership  of  Hung  Pang  (Red  Asso- 
ciation), and  the  Changsha  rice  riots  of  1910,  when  Yale 
College  in  China  was  barely  saved  from  the  conflagration, 
in  the  very  district  w^hich  in  1911  was  swept  by  the  high 
tide  of  the  revolution.  In  1906  text  books  were  issued  to 
the  modern  schools  of  some  of  the  southern  provinces  which 
contained  a  caricature  of  China,  not  as  the  "Middle  King- 
dom" of  old,  but  as  the  "Middle  morsel,"  from  which  all 
the  nations  took  a  bite.  The  intent  of  course  was  to  arouse 
resentful  patriotism  in  place  of  the  old  inert  pride.  Many 
of  these  school  boys  enhsted  in  the  two  bravest  corps  of 
the  republicans:  the  "Dare  to  Die"  band,  and  the  "Bomb 
Throwers"  regiment.  In  April,  1911,  the  rebels,  under  two 
of  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen's  lieutenants,  Hu  Wai  Sang  and  Wu 
Sum,  operating  in  Kwangtung  province,  issued  to  the  world 
almost  the  identical  manifesto  that  President  Sun  and  For- 
eign Secretary  Wu  Ting  Fang  issued  in  January,  1912. 
Desperate  fighting  took  place,  and  had  the  rebels  been  suffi- 
ciently supplied  with  money  and  arms,  the  republic  would 
have  been  declared  at  Canton  in  April  instead  of  at  Wuchang 
and  Nanking  in  November,  1911.     The  United  States  gun- 


THE   KEPUBLICAN   REVOLUTION   IN   CHINA  71 

boat  Wilmington,  and  British  gunboats  like  the  Moorhen  were 
rushed  to  Shameen  island,  Canton,  to  protect  foreigners  if 
need  should  arise  in  the  excitement.  Admiral  Li,  who  was 
killed  in  the  October  revolution,  was  barely  able  to  conquer 
this  April  revolution  in  Kwantung  and  Fukien  provinces. 

Nearly  all  the  missions  were  informed  by  Chinese  students 
and  friends  many  months  previous  to  the  revolution,  that 
serious  and  continued  disturbances  would  occur.  The  Chi- 
nese saw  that  individualism  had  arisen  in  America  and  Eng- 
land and  was  battling  with  the  privileged.  Individualism 
at  last  arose  in  old  China,  and  resented  in  this  rebellion  the 
quietism  taught  by  the  superstition  of  Taoism,  the  resigna- 
tion of  Buddhism  and  the  obedience  of  Confucianism. 
"I  am  not  a  clan;  I  am  a  man;"  ''Homo  sum,  Humani  nihil 
a  me  alienum  puto"  said  the  ambitious  Chinese,  as  he  saw 
the  new  ray  of  hope.  American  diplomacy  was  not  alto- 
gether uniformed  or  unprepared.  The  American  fleet  was 
made  the  largest  foreign  fleet  in  Chinese  waters  in  the  first 
month  of  the  revolution.  Admiral  Murdock  having  the 
cruisers  Saratoga  (the  converted  New  York  of  Spanish  War 
fame),  Albany,  New  Orleans,  Wilmington,  the  gunboats 
Helena,  El  Cano,  Villalohos,  Samar,  the  monitor  Monterey, 
and  the  destroyers  Barry,  Decatur,  etc.  As  far  back  as 
June  3,  1910,  a  year  and  four  months  before  the  revolution, 
the  Shanghai  News  printed  the  following  article:  ''All  the 
legations  and  consuls  have  received  anonymous  letters  from 
friendly  revolutionaries  in  Shanghai,  containing  the  warn- 
ing that  an  extensive  anti-dynastic  uprising  is  imminent. 
If  they  do  not  assist  the  Manchus,  foreigners  are  not  to 
be  harmed."  It  was  difficult  to  hold  the  widespread  feeling 
in  restraint.  In  August,  1911,  a  rebellion  broke  out  at 
Sining  in  far  western  Kansu  province.  The  leader  was 
given  the  name  "Chiu  Shih  Wang"  (Savior  of  his  Country). 
Rich  men  cornered  the  rice  supply  in  the  flooded  Yang 
Tze  valley,  and  food  riots  broke  out  all  along  the  river  in 
August,  1911.  On  August  23,  1911,  rebels  boarded  a  Chi- 
nese gunboat  on  the  romantic  Si  Kiang  (West  River)  near 
Canton,  shooting  the  commander,  and  seizing  the  arms  and 
ammunition.     On    September    1,    the    Navy   Department 


72  JOHN   STUART  THOMSON 

strengthened  the  patrol  of  Kwangtung  province  waters,  so 
as  to  stop  tlio  smuggling  of  arms,  and  the  Army  Board 
required  miners  to  get  permits  to  import  dynamite,  as  they 
feared  that  the  "anarchists"  were  importing  the  explosive. 
The  awful  floods  and  famines  of  1910-11  in  the  basins  of 
the  Yang  Tze  River,  the  Hwei  River,  and  Grand  Canal 
had  created  much  criticism  of  the  government,  which  failed 
to  alleviate  suffering  which  their  neglect  had  caused,  and 
the  famine  stricken  were  willing  to  fight,  because  an  army 
has  a  commissariat  at  least!  "Every  one  that  was  in  dis- 
tress, and  every  one  that  was  in  debt,  and  every  one  that 
was  discontented,  escaped  to  the  cave  of  Adullam."  News- 
papers, such  as  the  oldest  reform  journal,  the  "Shen  Pao" 
of  Shanghai,  related  horrible  illegal  tortures  of  the  "third 
degree"  used  by  Manchuized  officials. 

Tin  was  largely  financing  the  propaganda,  the  400,000 
Chinese  tin  merchants  and  miners  of  Singapore,  Penang, 
etc.  in  the  Straits  Settlements  being  the  largest  contributors. 
Following  them  came  the  100,000  American  Chinese,  and  the 
50,000  Australian  Chinese.  Even  in  1898,  Li  Hung  Chang 
was  known  to  declare  at  Canton  that  it  was  not  impos- 
sible that  the  spread  of  the  new  education  would  overturn 
the  Manchu  dynasty,  of  which  he,  a  Chinese  from  Hofei 
igi  Xganwhei  province,  had  been  the  strongest  prop  among 
the  viceroys  for  forty-five  years.  Superstition  was  not  inac- 
tive. Halley's  comet  flared  in  the  sky.  It  had  shone  when 
Caesar  fell;  when  Jerusalem  fell;  when  Italy  fell  before 
Attila;  when  Enghsh  Harold  fell  before  William  the  Con- 
queror; when  Rome  fell  in  England;  when  Quebec  fell  before 
Wolfe,  and  now  its  awful  flame  must  surely  prophesy  the 
fall  of  the  Manchu  dynasty.  Omens  were  recited  that  red 
snow  (snow  and  loess)  had  fallen  in  Honan  province,  and 
that  the  Hangchow  tidal  bore  had  risen  20  feet,  broke  over 
the  bank,  and  poured  water  into  the  first  gallery  of  the  fam- 
ous Haining  pagoda.  This  always  meant  the  fall  of  the 
dynasty,  for  had  it  not  happened  on  the  night  the  beloved 
Mings  fell,  and  when  the  scholarly  Sungs  fell?  As  with 
civil  servants  in  some  other  countries,  the  Manchuized  Civil 
Service  of  mandarins  acted  as  though  they  were  the  govern- 


THE   REPUBLICAN   REVOLUTION   IN   CHINA  73 

ors  and  not  the  servants  of  the  people,  by  alloting  to  them- 
selves high  salaries  and  peculations.  The  year  before  the 
revolution,  the  land  tax  yielded  about  $150,000,000.  Only 
$30,000,000  reached  the  government  exchequer.  The  Chi- 
nese held  the  Manchus  responsible  for  this  criminal  neglect 
of  audit,  for  at  least  $100,000,000  should  have  reached 
the  imperial  and  provincial  exchequers.  That  would  have 
allowed  $50,000,000  for  the  expected  peculation  of  that  kind 
of  office  holders  who  believe  that  "public  office  is  a  private 
graft."  The  same  peculation  occurred  in  returning  the  salt 
gabelle  of  $20,000,000.  In  September  1911,  the  month  pre- 
ceding the  great  revolution,  the  Chi  Feng  Po,  a  native  paper 
of  Peking,  reported  that  all  wages  were  in  arrears,  and  that 
even  the  tea  coolies  had  humorously  pasted  an  anonymous 
sheet  on  the  Imperial  Controller's  door:  ''Not  even  a  shadow 
of  our  wages  yet:  why;  why?"  There  was  some  grinding 
of  teeth  behind  the  grin;  there  was  more  than  humor  in 
this  facetiousness.  Taxes  were  increased  on  long-suffering 
Kwangtung  province;  the  brick  kilns  of  Kochau,  the  silk 
sheds  of  Namhoi,  the  tea  houses,  and  even  the  temple  keepers 
being  assessed  ''all  the  taxed  would  bear."  I  will  instance 
a  representative  revolt.  On  September  6,  1911,  the  bonze 
at  Shek  Lung,  near  Canton,  organized  a  revolt  among  the 
worshippers  at  his  temple,  which  was  as  significant  as  if 
the  rector  of  All  Saints  Episcopal  Church  in  Worcester,  in 
disgust  with  conditions,  gave  arms  to  his  congregation  and 
led  them  against  the  citadel  of  the  powers  that  be.  The 
Chinese  mob  demolished  the  municipal  Yamen,  the  police 
station,  and  government  distilleries,  abbatoir,  and  fish  mar- 
ket. As  far  back  as  1898,  the  Emperor  Kwang  Hsu  by  edict 
declared  that  the  lottery  at  Canton  should  pay  one-third 
of  the  up-keep  of  the  far-away  Peking  University.  There 
is  a  unique  effigy  of  a  kneeling  figure  erected  in  the  Kwan 
clan  temple  at  San  Wui  near  Canton,  which  is  and  has  been 
whipped  by  the  worshippers  to  commemorate  the  defection 
of  a  member  to  the  Manchu  government's  railway  and 
tax  program.  There  was  always  ill  feeling  between  Peking 
and  far  away  Kwangtung  province,  the  Manchu  and  Man- 
chuized  viceroys  often  joking  at  Peking,  when  they  were 


/4  JOHN   STUART   THOMSON 

ordered  to  assume  charge  at  the  Yamen  at  Canton:  "Well, 
I'm  olT  to  boss  Miaotszes  (barbarians),  which  the  refined 
antl  commercial  Cantonese  certainly  were  not.  This  super- 
ciliousness was  deeply  resented,  in  the  south. 

Repeated  complaint  had  been  made  that  an  unrepresen- 
tative IManchu  government  gave  away  concessions  right  and 
left  to  foreigners,  and  that  when  these  concessions  were 
recalled  or  bought  out,  owing  to  the  outraged  patriotic  feel- 
ing in  the  southern  and  central  provinces,  the  foreigner  in 
instances  charged  immense  sums  for  good  will  and  franchise 
in  addition  to  his  outlay  and  interest.  I  will  not  recite 
instances  which  I  have  on  record,  as  it  is  the  system  that 
I  am  denouncing,  not  the  persons.  The  Chinese  rightly 
said,  if  we  look  at  the  matter  charitably  with  his  eyes,  that 
he  was  not  going  to  pay  vast  sums  for  the  retrocession  of 
his  own  franchise,  which  was  in  some  instances  coerced  from, 
or  wheedled  out  of  an  effete,  governing,  unrepresentative 
clique,  the  members  of  which  never  consulted  the  provinces 
which  were  concerned.  "Taxation  without  representation" 
again.  It  was  not  like  the  repudiation  of  the  bonds  of  the 
American  southern  States,  for  no  money  had  been  paid. 
"Compensation"  and  "indemnity"  are  two  words  the  Chi- 
nese have  learned  to  hate,  and  some  day  they  may  build 
an  immense  navy  and  equip  a  large  army  to  interpret  these 
words  in  the  way  the  Occident  interprets  them,  when  they 
are  synonomous  wdth  injustice  and  "grab."  On  the  subject 
of  railways,  concessions,  etc.  the  following  remarks  will  be 
recalled  in  the  American  General  J.  H.  Wilson's  book  China 
(1887) : 

The  Chinese  will  build  railways,  open  mines,  etc.  whenever  they 
can  be  sho\^^l  that  this  can  be  done  with  their  own  money,  obtained 
at  first  by  private  subscription,  and  by  their  own  labor,  under  the 
direction  of  foreign  experts  who  will  treat  them  fairl}'  and  hon- 
estly. The}'  will  not  for  the  present  grant  concessions  or  subsidies 
to  foreigners.  They  will  not  even  take  money  from  any  syndicate 
by  mortgage. 

Complaint  was  also  made  that  the  Ming  dynasty,  268 
years  ago,  left  as  a  heritage  to  the  Manchu  dynasty  a  land 
full  of  public  works,  bridges,  roads,  temples,  pagodas,  canals, 


THE    REPUBLICAN    REVOLUTION    IN   CHINA  75 

and  that  while  the  Manchu  collected  large  taxes,  he  almost 
never  repaired  a  temple,  canal  or  road,  so  that  China  is 
now  desolate  of  ''the  thing  of  beauty  that  is  a  joy  forever." 
Objection  was  also  made  that  the  government  shipyards,  like 
the  Kiangnan  at  Shanghai,  were  building  luxurious  ocean 
steam  yachts  for  Prince  Tsui  and  others  of  the  imperial 
clan,  an  expense  which  the  nation  could  not  afford. 

This  most  wonderful  of  revolutions  seemed  to  break  as 
a  bolt  from  a  clear  sky  on  October  10,  1911,  at  Wuchang  on 
the  Yangtze  River,  in  the  center  of  the  land,  under  the  very 
guns  of  the  United  States  gunboats  Helena  and  Villalobos, 
which  were  steaming  by.  It  was,  as  I  have  attempted  to 
show,  rather  a  carefully  planned  matter,  the  propaganda 
going  on  abroad  and  at  home  under  bands  and  leaders,  all 
of  whose  views  did  not  stop  at  the  same  place,  but  whose 
opinion  had  one  source  in  patriotic  reform.  Kang  Yu  Wei, 
the  oldest  and  first  of  the  reformers,  commenced  in  1897 
by  winning  with  his  book  Japan's  Reform  the  emotional 
Manchu  Emperor,  Kwang  Hsu,  but  when  the  Emperor 
fell  in  1898  before  the  reactionary  Dowager,  Tse  Hsi,  Kang 
the  Cantonese,  with  a  Hong  Kong  education,  was  driven 
to  British  Singapore  and  Penang,  from  which  places  he  has 
planned  his  travels  and  propaganda  of  the  "Pao  Huang 
Hwei"  (Empire  Reform  Association),  which  contemplated 
a  revolution  of  reform,  but  the  retention  of  the  Manchu 
dynasty  as  constitutional  monarchs  for  the  time  being.  This 
association  was  quite  different  from  the  Kao  Lao  Hwei, 
Ko  Ming,  Sia  Hwei,  and  Tung  Men  Hwei  associations  of 
Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  which  aimed  at  a  republic.  In  other 
words,  Kang  was  a  ''standpatter,"  medium  reformer,  and 
Dr.  Sun  a  thorough  going,  advanced,  reformer  of  the  pro- 
gressive radical  type. 

Liang  Chi  Chao,  the  writer  and  translator,  went  first  to 
the  Straits  Settlements  and  then  to  Kobe  and  Yokohama, 
where  he  edited  the  reform  Chinese  papers,  the  Hsi  Pao 
(Western  paper),  and  the  Ming  Pao.  He  too  tolerated  the 
retention  of  the  Manchu  monarchy  for  the  time  being.  Dr. 
Mackhn,  an  American  missionary  of  Nanking,  had  trans- 
lated Henry  George's  Progress  and  Poverty  into  Chinese, 


76  JOHN   STUART   THOMSON 

and  this  book  was  in  the  hands  of  the  reformers,  and  partic- 
ularly appreciated  by  Sun  Yat  Sen.  Chang  Yuan  Chi's 
Co)nmercial  Press  of  Honan  Road,  Shanghai,  had  since  1898 
been  translating  western  text  books  for  the  new  Chinese 
schools.  The  American  Presbyterian  Press  at  Suchow,  and 
at  18  Peking  Road,  Shanghai;  the  American  Episcopal 
Press;  the  press  of  the  other  American  and  British  missions 
and  Bible  Societies,  had  for  years  been  issuing  telling  books 
of  truth  and  progress  in  Chinese.  Rich  compradores  of 
foreign  houses  at  Hong  Kong,  like  Ma  Ying  Pui,  presented 
sums  as  large  as  $1000  at  a  time  to  patriotic  lecturing  soci- 
eties like  the  ''Wan  Yung."  There  was  more  than  one 
Chinese  student  of  the  classics  in  America  who  thumbed 
his  Antigone,  and  cogitated  upon  Haemon's  argument  with 
his  father,  King  Creon,  that  "absolute  rule  was  only  fitted 
for  the  monarch  of  a  desert,"  and  not  a  people  who  numbered 
400,000,000. 

Yuan  Shi  Kai  was  deposed  by  the  Manchu  Regent,  Prince 
Chun  in  1909,  but  from  his  exile  at  Chang  Te,  his  birthplace 
in  Honan  pro\ince,  he  kept  in  dignified  touch  with  the 
formation  of  the  new  forces  of  opinion  and  arms.  Yuan  is 
a  mighty  man,  quite  on  the  style  of  Li  Hung  Chang,  his 
preceptor.  At  Tientsin,  the  foreigners  assisted  Yuan,  pre- 
vious to  1909,  with  instruction  in  Occidental  organization, 
and  the  best  troops  of  the  Empire  in  the  matter  of  equip- 
ment, as  well  as  the  best  schools,  and  almost  the  best  mills, 
were  organized  by  Yuan.  Yuan  has  not  been  in  close  touch 
wdth  the  throbbing  heart  of  the  reform  spirit  in  western, 
central  or  southern  China,  where  he  has  never  visited,  nor 
wdth  the  foreigners  of  the  great  educational  treaty  ports  of 
those  sections,  and  of  the  brilliant  British  colony  of  Hong 
Kong  in  south  China,  which,  wdth  British  and  American 
Shanghai,  has  possibly  done  most  for  a  reformed  China. 
Yuan's  only  experience  outside  of  China  proper  was  when 
as  a  youth  he  served  twelve  years  with  the  army  in  Korea, 
and  in  China  itself  he  has  traveled  little.  Yuan  is  practical 
and  cold;  swift  in  action  and  severe  at  times.  An  anecdote 
which  throws  a  light  on  his  mentality  is  the  following.  He 
jested  with  a  Red  Cross  surgeon  that  he  was  taking  a  lot  of 


THE   REPUBLICAN   REVOLUTION   IN   CHINA  77 

trouble;  that  while  he  had  remade  the  man  in  sawing  off 
his  leg,  he  had  not  remade  the  soldier  so  far  as  he  the  com- 
mander was  concerned;  that  generally  in  populous  China, 
when  the  leg  had  to  go,  the  whole  man  was  let  go.  To  err 
is  human,  to  forgive  is  divine.  In  other  countries  than 
China,  former  standpatters  are  now  enrolled  as  enthusiastic 
Progressives.  A  man  should  not  always  be  judged  by  his 
past,  for  it  is  possible  that  he  shall  see  a  great  light.  Paul 
was  indeed  a  converted  Saul,  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen's  greatest 
friend.  Dr.  Cantlie  of  London,  who  has  recently  issued  a 
book,  says  that  Yuan  Shi  Kai  is  overrated  by  the  foreigners 
of  north  China,  but  Dr.  Sun  himself  has  time  and  again 
vouched  for  the  sincerity  and  enthusiasm  of  Yuan.  The 
future  certainly  is  glorious  with  great  possibilities. 

Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  (I  would  like  to  Latinize  his  name  as 
Sunyacius  just  as  we  Latinized  Kung  Fut  Tsze  into  Con- 
fucius) is  a  Hong  Kong  product,  and  has  been  a  revolutionist 
and  a  republican  from  the  beginning.  As  a  boy  he  was  fed 
on  thrilling  stories  of  the  Taiping  rebellion  by  his  uncle, 
who  had  served  as  an  officer  in  that  rebellion  against  the 
Manchus.  Sunyacius  was  born  at  Fatshan,  seven  miles 
west  of  Canton  in  1866.  From  1884  to  1887  he  was  assisted 
by  Dr.  Kerr,  of  the  Anglo-Am.erican  mission.  Canton,  in 
whose  office  he  studied  medicine  and  English.  He  studied 
medicine  and  surgery  under  his  greatest  friend.  Dr.  Cantlie 
at  what  is  now  the  medical  department  of  Hong  Kong  Uni- 
versity. In  1892  Dr.  Sun  became  the  first  Chinese  prac- 
ticing medicine  at  beautiful  Macao,  and  met  with  great 
opposition  from  the  conservative  Portugese  doctors,  who 
in  1894  drove  him  to  Canton.  His  father  was  a  Chinese 
Christian  evangelist,  a  Congregationalist  (London  Mission) 
by  denomination.  Even  two  years  before  Kang  Yu  Wei's 
work  at  Peking,  Dr.  Sun  in  1895  smuggled  arms  into  Canton, 
got  his  revolutionary  forces  at  work,  and  received  his  first 
baptism  of  fire.  Owing  to  the  Swatow  men  not  meeting 
the  Hong  Kong  men  at  Canton,  Sun's  plans  collapsed  in 
1895.  By  the  advice  of  Mr.  Dennis,  a  soficitor  of  Hong 
Kong,  Dr.  Sun  fled  to  Kobe,  Japan;  to  Honolulu,  to  San 
Francisco,  everywhere  picking  up  threads  of  the  theme  of 


78  JOHN   STUART   THOMSON 

liberty.  The  world  is  now  familiar  with  his  wanderings, 
dis«2;uisos.  privations,  propaganda,  through  the  long  years, 
and  his  visits  to  bankers.  Sun's  headquarters  have  been 
at  British  Singapore  and  at  Hong  Kong,  but  he  is  as  well 
known  at  San  Francisco,  Chicago,  New  York,  London 
\'ancouver  and  Yokohama.  Incognito,  he  has  walked  into 
the  dormitories  of  Columbia  College,  New  York,  and  talked 
revolution  and  reform  with  some  of  the  students  under  the 
unconscious  eye  of  many  a  conservative.  Dr.  Sun  is  a  scholar, 
propagandist,  organizer  and  republican.  His  example  has 
had  much  to  do  with  the  change  in  the  styles  of  clothing  in 
China.  He  is  an  author  having  published  in  1904  in  Lon- 
don a  book  on  The  Chinese  Question.  The  Manchus  kept 
Dr.  Sun  out  of  China  during  the  long  years,  and  he  is  there- 
fore not  yet  thoroughly  known  to  the  Hupeh  and  Hunan 
pro\dnce  guilds,  who  fired  the  first  successful  shot,  but  he  is 
the  pick  of  the  southern  and  the  alien  Chinese,  who  have 
largely  financed  reform  and  revolution;  the  Chinese  of  Can- 
ton, Singapore,  Penang,  noble  Hong  Kong,  Macao,  America, 
England,  Japan,  Australia,  and  brilliant  Shanghai.  He  has 
never  held  office  under  the  Manchus  at  home  or  abroad, 
and  is  therefore  not  well  known  to  foreigners  in  the  salons 
of  diplomats,  in  the  capitals  of  the  Caucasic  race,  or  to 
the  masses  of  the  Chinese  in  the  north  and  west  provinces, 
but  he  is  a  coming  man.  The  following  incident  will  throw 
a  pleasing  light  on  Dr.  Sun's  character.  On  February  22, 
1912,  his  elder  brother  Sun  Mei,  perhaps  an  ordinary  man 
in  equipment,  was  at  a  time  of  enthusiasm  almost  elected 
governor  of  the  great  province  of  Kwangtung  as  a  popular 
tribute  to  Sun  Yat  Sen.  The  latter  wdred  from  Nanking, 
disapproving  of  the  choice  for  the  province's  good,  and  urg- 
ing ''brother  Mei"  to  confine  himself  to  business,  for  which 
he  was  more  fitted. 

Another  mighty  man  who  prepared  the  way  for  revolution 
and  whom  America  knows  well  was  the  Honorable  Wu  Ting 
Fang.  Not  a  few  perhaps  held  their  breath  when  it  was 
announced  in  November,  1911,  that  this  courtly  gentleman 
had  entered  the  strenuous  arena.  Wu  was  the  first  of  the 
reformers  to  insist  on  foreign  acknowledgment  of  the  rebel 


THE  REPUBLICAN  REVOLUTION  IN  CHINA       79 

government,  and  he  formulated  the  most  brilliant  move  of 
the  revolution,  the  announcement  that  if  foreigners  advanced 
money  to  the  imperialists,  and  the  repubhcans  won,  the 
latter  would  repudiate  such  loans.  This  really  won  the 
revolution,  for  numbers  of  the  foreign  syndicates  were  at 
first  heartil}''  in  favor  of  the  Manchu  statu  quo.  Wu  has 
already  codified  the  reform  and  penal  laws  of  China,  and  is 
prepared  to  enter  upon  that  difficult  question,  extraterri- 
toriality. Watch  the  Honorable  Wu  Ting  Fang;  he  is  not 
afraid  to  take  the  side  of  "China  for  the  Chinese,"  although 
he  is  one  of  the  most  polished  gentlemen  in  western  culture 
of  all  the  Chinese  officials.  He  aims  to  interpret  the  East 
to  the  West.  Wu  risked  vast  preferment,  and  he  will  grow 
in  power  with  the  masses  of  the  Chinese  nation.  His  broth- 
er-in-law is  the  exceedingly  able  Dr.  Ho  Kai,  Commander 
of  the  British  Order  of  Michael  and  George,  the  Chinese 
member  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  the  royal  colony  of 
Hong  Kong  island,  a  thorough  legislator,  a  brilliant  man. 

There  were  other  reformers  in  China  and  abroad  at  work 
from  1898  to  1911,  although  the  western  press  gave  no 
attention  to  the  really  astonishing  matter.  The  bitter 
Hunanese  repubhcan  rebel,  the  irrepressible  Hwang  Shing, 
was  also  exiled  by  the  Empress  Dowager,  Tse  Hsi,  in  1898. 
He  fled  to  Japan  with  a  price  on  his  head.  When  the 
psychic  moment  was  called  at  Wuchang  in  October  1911, 
Hwang  was  soon  on  the  ground.  He  was  one  of  the  repub- 
lican generals  who  captured  Nanking,  and  thus  crowned 
the  revolution  with  success,  and  he  is  now  frequently  at 
Peking,  urging  the  views  of  the  Yangtze  provinces. 

In  America,  the  editors  of  the  Chung  Sai  Yat  Po,  the 
Chinese  World,  and  Free  Press  at  San  Francisco,  and  the 
Chinese  Reform  News  at  New  York,  often  visited  by  Sun  Yat 
Sen's  American  representative,  Wong  Man  Su,  ably  took  up 
the  propaganda,  which  was  carried  on  in  their  own  way  by 
a  thousand  newspapers  which  arose  throughout  China  from 
1906  onward,  first  in  the  treaty  ports,  and  later  in  Chinese 
cities.  Reference  was  made  to  the  fact  that  while  China, 
the  largest  Oriental  country,  was  without  a  real  Parliament, 
other  Oriental  countries  had  successfully  overthrown  despot- 


so  JOHN    STUART   THOMSON 

ism  and  oligarchism,  and  had  popular  assemblies,  which 
crantod  some  representation  in  return  for  the  privilege  of 
taxation.  Japan  had  a  Diet;  even  Russia  had  a  Duma; 
tlie  Filipinos  had  an  Assembly;  Turkey  had  an  Assembly; 
little  Persia  had  a  representative  Mejliss;  native  members 
had  at  last  been  admitted  into  the  Viceroy's  Council  in 
India;  and  Hong  Kong,  with  its  500,000  Chinese,  had  long 
had  two  Chinese  as  brilliant  members  of  the  Legislative 
Council. 

Viceroy  Seu  Ki  Yu's  essay  of  1866,  praising  Washington 
and  republicanism  as  ideal,  was  reissued  and  distributed, 
and  had  its  influence.  By  1909  and  1910  the  reformers  had 
compelled  the  Manchus  to  heed  the  howling  of  the  wind, 
and  see  the  shadow  of  a  cloud,  at  least  as  big  as  a  man's 
hand  on  the  horizon  of  internal  politics.  The  Manchus 
granted  provincial  and  national  assemblies,  but  they  were 
called  and  considered  only  "  Tsecheng  Yuan"  (advice  boards) 
and  not  legislative  bodies  in  the  free  and  full  sense  of  the 
word.  The  pensions  of  the  Manchus  and  bannermen  in 
the  various  Chinese  cities  were  decreased  somewhat  and 
land  was  offered  them  so  that  they  might  enter  the  indus- 
trial body  of  the  nation.  Many  Manchus  rebelled,  as  at 
Chingtu  city  in  September,  1911.  Argument  increased. 
The  cloud  on  the  horizon  grew  larger.  Objection  was  made 
to  the  court's  monopoly  of  the  rich  copper  mines  of  Yunnan 
province,  and  complaint  was  reiterated  that  while  the  south- 
ern provinces  were  the  least  consulted,  and  the  weakest  in 
representation  in  any  governmental  consultations  that  were 
held  at  Peking,  the  government  overdeveloped  the  armies 
and  schools  of  the  three  northern  provinces  of  Pechili, 
Shantung  and  Shansi  with  taxes  collected,  largely  in  the 
southern  provinces,  where  the  government  neglected  schools, 
police  and  army  divisions.  It  was  hard  to  get  the  Stuart 
kings  to  call  Parliaments,  and  when  at  a  belated  date  they 
did,  complaint  was  louder  than  ever,  for  there  was  some- 
thing to  complain  of,  and  at  last  a  constitutional  place  to 
complain  in.  These  Chinese  assemblies  gave  little  repre- 
sentation directly  to  the  masses,  a  high  property  qualifi- 
cation debarring  them,  but  the  gentry  of  the  guilds  in 


THE   REPUBLICAN   REVOLUTION   IN   CHINA  81 

many  cases,  espoused  the  reform  sentiment  of  the  masses, 
exactly  as  the  Stuart  Parhaments  did  to  the  disgust  of  the 
Stuart  kings  who  hoped  for  monarchic  support,  and  as  the 
barons  of  the  "Magna  Charta"  did  at  Runnymede  to  the 
disgust  of  Plantagenet  John  of  England.  One  provincial 
Assembly  President  we  might  note  at  this  point.  He  is 
Tang  Hua  Lung,  of  the  Hupeh  Assembly.  When  Hankow 
was  taken  on  October  13,  1911,  Tang  jumped  to  the  front 
as  organizer  of  the  first  republican  provincial  government, 
with  headquarters  at  Wuchang,  the  ancient  viceregal  capi- 
tal of  the  illustrious  Viceroy  Chang  Chih  Tung.  In  the 
mother  province  of  reform,  the  most  progressive  province 
politically  of  all  the  twenty-one,  Kwangtung,  Wu  Hon  Man 
agitated  in  his  assembly  for  reform,  and  when  the  Imperial 
Viceroy,  Chang  Ming  Chi  fled  to  Hong  Kong,  Wu  Hon 
Man  burst  into  the  Yamen  at  Canton  with  the  rebelling 
16th  and  other  regiments,  and  took  charge  of  that  great 
province  for  the  republican  rebels.  In  its  Nationalization- 
of-Railways  scheme,  the  Manchus  partially  confiscated  the 
Kwangtung  railways,  promising  to  pay  the  owners  only 
60  per  cent  of  their  investment. 

China's  army  was  a  territorial  one.  Troops  raised  in 
this  way  are  hard  to  control  in  local  emergencies,  but  they 
are  easier  to  recruit,  mobilize,  drill  and  discipline  at  the 
beginning  than  mixed  corps.  Among  the  generals  of  divis- 
ions, transferred  from  the  Navy  Department,  was  the  famous 
Li  Yuan  Heng,  on  whom  the  republicans  largely  fixed  their 
hopes  as  the  man  trained  and  true  for  the  real  deeds  of 
deadly  arms,  which  make  new  governments  possible.  Prop- 
aganda and  patience  are  all  right  in  their  places,  but  powder 
needs  a  special  man  of  a  stern  mould,  fit  to  deal  with  merci- 
less and  terrible  enemies.  General  Li  was  one  of  these 
men;  General  Hwang  was  another.  General  Hsu,  who  sent 
in  the  brilhant  coup  de  grace  at  Nanking,  was  still  another. 
You  all  know  the  details  of  the  training  of  these  men  and 
that  their  success  was  not  an  accident.  As  general  of  the 
20th  division  of  the  northern  army,  camped  at  Lanchou, 
east  of  Peking,  was  General  Chang  Shao  Tsen  (we  will 
call  him  Chang  the  first  to  distinguish  him  from  two  other 


82  JOHN   STUART   THOMSON 

Generals  Chang  of  the  Manchu  camp  at  Nanking  and  else- 
wlioro  in  the  northeastern  provinces).  He  will  come  for- 
ward in  a  moment. 

In  the  province  where  Shanghai  is  located,  the  President 
of  the  Assembly,  Chang  Chien,  who  proposes  to  visit  Amer- 
ican Chambers  of  Commerce,  and  who  is  well  known  as  the 
host  in  China  of  visiting  Pacific  Coast  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce, was  more  than  ready  to  declare  for  reform.  He,  with 
Wu  Ting  Fang,  was  insistent  on  the  abdication  of  the  Manchu 
dynasty,  and  the  declaration  of  a  republic.  At  Lhasa,  in 
far  away  Tibet,  was  an  Imperial  resident  who  had  been 
trained  in  reform  at  Shanghai,  and  in  law  at  Yale.  He 
was  the  eminent  Wen  Tsung  Yao,  destined  to  be  the  Assist- 
ant Foreign  Minister  of  the  first  rebel  government.  For 
the  most  part  however  the  radical  reformers  were  new  men 
unknown  to  the  world,  as  the  Manchus  had  naturally  never 
given  office  to  them.  Whenever  there  is  a  movement 
towards  liberty  in  Europe  you  generally  find  an  English 
book,  or  an  England-inspired  man  behind  it.  It  will  be 
noted  that  nearly  all  these  Chinese  reformers  have  come 
under  American  influence. 

Many  causes,  all  important,  helped  to  precipitate  the 
crisis.  Sheng  Kung  Pao  and  others  had  planned  to  compel 
the  provinces  and  the  gentry  of  the  guilds,  to  sell  out  their 
many  little  railroads,  many  of  which  were  paying  well,  to 
the  central  government,  which  intended  to  quickly  national- 
ize the  railroads  under  immense  foreign  loans.  The  local 
gentry  feared  that  this  meant  the  extinction  of  distributed 
small  fortunes  and  opportunities;  concessions  of  mines  to 
foreigners;  heavy  interest;  continuation  of  the  unscientific 
Likin  system  of  customs  as  a  security;  and  payment  of 
obnoxious  bonuses.  The  bitter  complaint  written  in  blood, 
of  the  Hunanese  of  Changsha  city  on  this  subject  was: 
''\^Tien  a  piece  of  meat  is  in  the  thief's  mouth,  it  is  hard  to 
take  it  out."  All  may  not  agree  with  the  Chinese  position, 
but  it  is  legal  and  wise  to  listen  to  the  argument  of  the 
defense  and  not  shout  it  out  of  court.  "Why  should  we, 
with  the  richest  mines  on  earth;  the  richest  passenger, 
freight  and  labor  field;  with  lands  plethoric  of  water  power 


THE  REPUBLICAN  REVOLUTION  IN  CHINA       83 

and  grain ;  and  the  lowest  debt,  if  the  oppressive  indemnities 
were  wiped  out,  pay  foreigners  such  immense  bonuses,  inter- 
est and  concessions,  discounts  and  profits,  to  go  out  of  our 
country"  rang  the  cry,  not  only  in  Hupeh,  Hunan,  Szech- 
uen,  Shansi  and  Kwangtung  provinces,  but  I  have  seen  it 
in  native  papers  printed  under  the  shadow  of  foreign  banks 
on  the  Bund  at  Tientsin  in  the  north,  and  there  was  one 
large  meeting  of  protest  held  by  the  Chinese  of  British 
Hong  Kong  in  the  Chui  Yin  hotel  on  September  3,  1911, 
delegates  attending  even  from  distant  Szechuen  province, 
where  the  ''Railroad  Protection  Association"  of  Chingtu 
city  in  August,  1911,  had  issued  a  famous  placard  of  protest 
in  which  the  four  banking  nations  in  caricature  were  made 
to  say:  "The  wealth  of  the  four  provinces  of  the  Yangtze 
and  the  south  is  all  given  to  us  four  foreign  nations  to  swal- 
low down  at  one  gulp."  A  representative  native  Hankow 
paper  wrote:  "The  merchants  of  Hupeh  urge  the  people  to 
take  shares  in  their  own  railways;  use  your  own  money  and 
do  not  go  to  foreigners;  there  is  need  of  independence  if 
you  would  preserve  your  liberty."  Egypt  was  cited  as  the 
example  of  not  following  this  course.  You  will  note  the 
Chinese  believe  that  money,  as  well  as  hostile  arms,  can 
make  slaves.  Even  if  a  foreign  banker,  statesman,  or  mer- 
chant does  not  fully  agree  with  the  local  feeling  of  the  Chi- 
nese, it  is  wise  to  look  frankly  at  their  side  of  the  argument 
in  making  educational,  financial  and  political  plans  in  the 
future.  There  was  much  complaint  that  the  Manchu  princes 
had  accumulated  private  hoards  from  the  taxes  levied  largely 
in  the  south.  Something  then  was  brewing,  especially  in 
the  southern  and  central  provinces.  Not  a  hair  of  a  for- 
eigner was  to  be  touched.  I  would  like  to  quote  the  written 
guarantee  of  the  "Sia  Hwei"  (Reform  Association)  of  Fuk- 
ien  province  to  the  foreigners  of  Fuchau  if  I  had  time.  Its 
sentences  will  forever  stand  as  a  bond  of  friendship  between 
the  East  and  the  West.  These  Fukien  people  were  as  good 
as  their  word,  for  besides  sending  levies  to  the  revolution, 
the  "Hsiang  lao"  (head  men)  of  the  villages  organized 
home  guards  for  the  protection  of  both  foreigners  and  natives. 
When  the  revolution  broke  out  at  Wuchang,  the  soldiers 


84  JOHN    STUART   THOMSON 

of  the  brave  30th  regiment  escorted  the  American  mission- 
aries out  of  the  Hne  of  fire  from  Serpent  Hill,  and  when  the 
missionaries  sailed  on  the  German  freighter  Belgravia  for 
Shanghai,  the  revolutionary  soldiers  of  Generals  Li  and 
Hwang  shouted  a  peace  message  that  will  endure:  "American 
republicans  are  brothers  of  ours."  The  heavy  indemnities 
amounting  to  the  awful  sum  of  $250,000,000  have  been  a 
heavy  load  upon  the  Chinese  people  of  the  south  and  central 
provinces,  who  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  persecution  of 
foreigners  in  1900.  The  Chinese  of  the  taxed  south  greatly 
appreciated  therefore  American  and  British  action  in  return- 
ing part  of  the  indemnities,  but  other  nations  should  do 
likewise.  The  Westminster  Gazette  of  London  now  supports 
this  position.     It  is  a  growing  wrong. 

Histories  of  peoples,  not  dynasties  and  oligarchies,  such 
as  John  Richard  Green's  History  of  the  English  People;  books 
which  helped  to  bring  about  the  American  revolution;  the 
American  missionary.  Dr.  Macklin's  Chinese  translation  of 
Henry  George's  Progress  and  Poverty;  great  paeans  of  lib- 
erty and  political  pain  the  world  over,  were  translated  and 
read.  The  book  Service  was  re-read.  It  was  written  in  1897 
by  Tan  Sze  Tung,  the  son  of  a  governor  of  Hupeh  province. 
Tan  was  one  of  the  martyrs  for  liberty,  who  were  beheaded 
in  1898.  Thomas  Paine's  The  Crisis,  which  was  good  enough 
to  be  read  by  Washington  before  battle  to  the  American 
regiments  of  1776,  was  translated  and  read  to  the  Chinese 
republicans.  The  preliminary  dance  was  opened  in  Sep- 
tember, 1911,  by  far  western  Szechuen  province,  Peking 
issuing  this  edict  in  the  yellow  Peking  Gazette:  ''Whoever 
shall  serve  us  by  killing  rebels,  shall  be  rewarded  regardless 
of  rules;"  a  sort  of  Sicilian  Mafia  or  Tammany  Beckerism 
you  see!  The  Peking  government  had  practically  confis- 
cated the  railways  of  the  Szechuenese,  as  the  paper  which 
they  were  given  in  exchange,  bore  no  guarantee  of  interest, 
and  no  reliance  was  put  upon  the  value  of  the  security 
by  the  provincial  gentry,  bankers  and  farmers.  When 
provinces  and  states  lose  confidence  in  the  sincerity  of 
a  fixed  central  government,  which  is  not  run  by  responsi- 


THE    REPUBLICAN    REVOLUTION    IN    CHINA  85 

ble  parties  which  can  be  recalled,  that  government  totters 
to  its  fall.  A  national  anthem  was  given  to  the  nation  to 
sing. 

May  China  be  preserved! 

In  this  time  of  the  Manchu  dynasty,  we  are  fortunate  to  see 

real  splendor; 
May  the  heavens  protect  the  imperial  family. 

The  south  only  sang  it  in  parodies,  and  in  September 
the  men  of  Szechuen  rebelled  and  ''fired  the  shot  heard  round 
the  world."  In  a  month,  the  soldiers  of  General  Li's  8th 
division  at  Wuchang  ''fired  the  volley  that  was  heard  around 
the  world."  What  followed  rapidly  lives  in  everyone's 
mind ;  the  rushing  of  northern  troops  by  railway  to  the  triple 
cities  at  Hankow;  the  rolling  to  and  fro  of  victory  and 
repulse.  General  Li's  troops,  especially  the  "Pu  Pa  Tsze" 
(Dare  to  Die  Brigade)  of  shaven  round-heads,  fought  bravely. 
They  were  a  sort  of  Cromwellians.  When  ammunition  ran 
out,  the  rebel  troops  used  the  bayonet  charge  with  daring. 
It  was  a  new  era  in  fighting  in  China  when  yellow  men 
would  charge,  with  only  cold  steel,  across  an  area  swept  by 
fire  from  machine  guns.  The  cause  and  not  the  command, 
had  given  them  the  new  courage.  Many  of  these  men  were 
recruited  from  the  most  famous  boatmen  of  the  world,  the 
Szechuen  trackers  of  the  wild  rapids  and  sublime  gorges 
of  the  glorious  Yang  Tze  River,  and  from  the  indefatigable, 
cheerful  mountain  coolies  of  Hupeh  province.  Province 
after  province  seceded  until  fourteen  were  in  the  fold  of 
liberty.  Reform  was  as  hot  as  a  prairie  fire,  and  almost  as 
hard  to  administer.  On  October  29,  a  remarkable  thing 
occurred  among  the  divisions  being  massed  for  an  attack 
on  the  rebel's  capital.  The  20th  division,  under  Chang  the 
first,  as  we  have  called  him,  mustered  in  the  Lanchou  camp, 
formed  the  famous  Army  League,  and  made  reform  demands 
on  the  packed  National  Assembly  at  Peking,  just  as  Caesar's 
immortal  13th  legion,  before  the  rebellion,  sent  demands 
to  the  Roman  Senate,  whose  orders  they  were  supposed 
to  take.  The  nineteen  constitutional  articles  were  granted 
and  are  a  sort  of  Magna  Charta  in  China.     On  Novem- 


86  JOHN    STUART   THOMSON 

hcv  o  at  the  front,  the  Imperial  3rd  division  made  a 
bloody  name  for  itself  in  the  respect  of  massacre  of  non- 
combatants  and  arson.  Hankow,  a  prosperous  city  of 
nearly  a  million  was  reduced  to  the  appearance  of  a  wrecked 
village.  On  the  republican  right  wing  at  glorious  Nanking, 
General  Chang  Hsun  (we  will  call  him  Chang  the  second) 
was  the  imperial  commander.  He  led  his  9th  division  in 
similar  bloodj^  massacres  as  those  which  occurred  at  Hankow. 
On  November  26,  1911,  the  repubhcans  under  Generals  Hsu 
and  Hwang  Shing  attacked  the  strong  hill  forts  above  Nan- 
king with  determination.  Dogged  charges  were  made  across 
the  open  and  up  the  zig-zag  of  Purple  Hill.  Who  will  sing 
the  feats  of  the  new  Chinese  arms — yes,  the  Chinese  who 
the  world  said  would  never  make  soldiers,  even  if  they  had 
a  great  cause  at  heart.  The  fighting  was  not  as  magnifi- 
cently solid  and  desperate  as  Pickett's  gray  charge  at  Get- 
tysburg; Thomas'  impetuous  charge  up  Missionary  Ridge; 
the  shining  Cuirassiers'  wild  ride  into  the  valley  of  death 
at  Waterloo;  Linievitch's  grim  defense  of  Putiloff  Hill;  the 
shouting  sweep  of  Oku's  Japanese  up  Nanshan  Heights, 
or  the  silent  plunge  of  Oyama's  massive  ranks  into  the 
Liaoyang  vallej^,  or  against  the  black  Mukden  lines.  It 
was  as  determined,  daring  and  brilliant  however  as  any  land 
engagement  in  the  South  African  or  Spanish- American  wars, 
and  far  braver  and  stronger  than  the  theatrical  engage- 
ments, with  air  ship  accessories  of  the  Italy-Tripoli  war.  The 
world's  critics  must  now  change  their  criterions.  A  strong 
cause  will  make  a  strong  battle  anywhere  the  world  over, 
no  matter  what  the  color  of  the  soldier,  or  the  cut  or  tint 
of  his  battle  flag.  Liberty  is  equally  proud  of  the  children 
she  begets,  no  matter  what  the  cUme.  The  Canton  artil- 
lery sang  a  rugged  song  of  Liberty.  It  is  worth  quot- 
ing, not  only  because  it  has  poetical  merit,  but  because 
it  shows  the  spirit  that  was  and  is  working  in  the  souls  of 
men: 

Freedom  will  work  on  this  earth, 

Great  as  a  giant  rising  to  the  skies, 

Come  Liberty,  because  of  the  black  hell  of  our  slavery, 

Come  enlighten  us  with  a  ray  of  thy  sun. 


THE   REPUBLICAN   REVOLUTION   IN   CHINA  87 

Behold  the  woes  of  our  fatherland. 

Other  men  are  becoming  all  kings  in  equality. 

Can  we  forget  what  our  people  are  suffering? 

China,  the  widest  and  oldest,  is  now  as  an  immense  desert. 

We  are  working  to  open  a  new  age  in  China; 

All  real  men  are  calling  for  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth. 

May  the  soul  of  the  people  now  rise  as  high  as  Kwangtung's 

highest  peak; 
Spirit  of  Freedom,  lead,  protect  us. 

The  Americans  of  Nanking,  Messrs.  Macklin,  Garrett, 
Blackstone,  Bowen,  believed  in  the  Chinese  saying  ''Chiu 
Ming"  (save  blood).  They  pleaded  with  the  victorious 
republican  generals  Hsu  and  Hwang  Shing  for  the  first 
humanitarian  surrender  in  Chinese  civil  war,  as  a  thrilling 
example  for  all  time  that  Chinese  revolutionists,  like  George 
Washington's  and  Oliver  Cromwell's  men,  were  patriots  and 
gentlemen  at  heart,  and  nor  mere  feudists  fighting  under 
the  name  of  a  great  cause.  Generals  Ling,  Hsu,  Li,  Hwang, 
etc.,  and  of  course  Foreign  Minister  Wu  Ting  Fang,  rose  to 
the  high  level.  They  agreed  to  a  surrender  with  honors. 
The  panting  troops  held  enthusiasm  in  control.  Behind  the 
walls  the  Imperialists  breathed  hard  as  well  they  might, 
seeing  what  they  deserved,  and  the  great  populace  of  shop- 
keepers eagerly  waited.  Hurrah!  A  shout  went  up  that 
lives  would  be  guaranteed;  yes,  honor  too.  Fling  open 
the  pounded,  riddled  iron  "Great  Peace!"  The  steel  muz- 
zles of  the  hot  Armstrongs;  the  deadly  four-point-sevens; 
the  spitting  rapid  fire,  the  3-inch  Krupp  guns  on  Purple, 
Lion  and  Tiger  hills  held  their  smoky  breath  like  good 
hounds  in  leash,  but  straining.  The  generals  and  cap- 
tains marked  time;  the  troops  craned  their  heads;  the  Can- 
tonese artillery  hitched  up  the  limbers  to  the  gun  carriages 
for  their  work  of  war  was  over.  The  American  missionaries 
thanked  God,  and  led  on  the  way  of  peace  for  a  China 
that  would  never  forget  the  moving  scene,  where  forgive- 
ness towered  over  revenge. 

Not  all  of  us  in  the  Occident  had  moved  as  fast  as  pro- 
gress moved  in  China.  Even  in  December  some  of  the 
American  journals  surprisingly  opposed  the  republic,  despite 
Washington's  recommendation  in  his  farewell  address  that 


88  JOHN   STUART  THOMSON 

Americans  should  recommend  their  form  of  government  to 
"the  apphiiise,  the  affection,  and  the  a^^opiion  of  every  nation." 
For  instance,  on  the  very  day  that  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  was 
named  President,  the  New  York  Outlook  December  30, 
1911,  (the  writer  of  the  article  was  not  Colonel  Roosevelt) 
stated  that  a  Chinese  repubUc  could,  would  and  should 
not  be  set  up  at  present,  and  further  that  ''Americans 
would  do  well, to  throw  all  their  influence  on  the  side  of  a 
monarchy."  Nine-tenths  of  the  Outlook's  readers  doubtless 
thought  that  if  Homer  could  sometimes  nod,  such  surpris- 
ingly^ retrogressive  words  as  these  might  be  forgiven  the 
generally  progressive  Outlook.  Similarly  in  England,  mother 
of  books  and  sons  of  liberty,  the  large  London  banking  house 
of  Montagu,  which  has  been  prominent  in  China,  issued 
a  circular  stating  its  "satisfaction"  when  the  repubhcans 
lost  Hankow  to  General  Feng  under  atrocious  circumstances 
of  almost  unforgivable  massacre  and  monumental  arson. 
Memoria  longa;  Ungua  brevis!  So  far,  the  strongest  move 
in  the  rebeUion  was  the  declaration  of  Foreign  Minister  Wu 
Ting  Fang  at  Shanghai  that  if  Britain  joind  certain  monarch- 
ical powers  in  loaning  the  north  money,  a  trade  boycott 
would  be  instituted  in  the  southern  and  central  provinces 
against  foreign  trade,  of  which  Britain  held  the  largest  share. 
This  won  Hong  Kong,  and  Hong  Kong  was  able  to  hold 
British  diplomacy  on  Downing  Street,  London.  It  was  a 
master  move,  as  brilliantly  effective  as  Napoleon's  Berlin 
decree  of  November  21,  1806,  blockading  British  commerce. 
Whatever  comes  in  the  next  few  years,  this  cry  surely  is  for- 
ever in  the  heart  of  Lincoln's  America:  "Long  live  the 
republican  idea  of  distributed  wealth  and  distributed  lib- 
erty in  good  old  China,  America's  yellow  brother  across  the 
narrowing  purple  Pacific."  The  harmony  which  prevailed 
between  the  missionaries  and  the  republicans  was  inspiring. 
In  a  \'illage  of  Hupeh  province  (Taiping),  the  people  insisted 
that  Air.  Landahl  of  the  Netherlands  Mission  should  head 
the  local  safety  league  which  was  maintaining  order,  and  they 
pushed  that  astonished  gentleman  to  the  head  in  what  was 
novel  to  him,  of  the  successful  pursuit  of  notorious  pirates. 
The  official  birth  of  the  Chinese  republic  came  on  Lincoln's 


THE  REPUBLICAN  REVOLUTION  IN  CHINA       89 

birthday  (think  of  it,  America),  February  12,  1912.  On  J  j  ^ 
February  15  the  Christian  Chinese  Provisional  President,!  y  , 
at  Nanking,  Sun  Yat  Sen,  performed  a  remarkable  act  ofl 
self-sacrifice  to  win  the  north  for  republicanism,  and  induce 
doughty  Yuan  to  join  the  great  cause.  He  was  also  able 
to  induce  the  vehement  south  to  accept  the  former  reac- 
tionary, Yuan.  Here  was  the  man  who  largely  had  achieved 
republicanism  laying  by  all  its  honors  at  the  climacteric 
moment  in  favor  of  the  man  who  had  most  powerfully 
withstood  republicanism.  Yet  Sun  was  happy.  China  was 
happy.  Yuan  was  happy.  With  the  least  bloodshed  ever 
known  on  a  field  of  liberty,  Sun  and  his  cabinet  had  achieved 
the  widest  revolution  ever  known.  They  had  established 
a  republic  of  twenty-one  republics  four  times  the  population 
of  America.  They  will  be  managed  by  a  combination  of  the 
British  and  American  systems,  as  their  bulk  is  too  great 
in  the  aggregate  for  the  strong  centralization  which  is  now 
becoming  popular  in  America  to  correct  certain  evils  for 
the  time  being.  The  provincial  republics  will  develop  largely 
as  units,  until  the  individual  is  educated  sufficiently  for 
greater  cohesion.  For  a  while,  the  republic  may  seem  to 
work  out  like  the  Mexican  system,  but  a  dictator-pres- 
ident is  not  the  final  aim.  Sun  Yat  Sen  will  go  down  to 
history  as  the  greatest  dreamer,  prophet,  organizer,  altruist 
and  political  philosopher,  the  modern  world  has  known; 
not  that  he  is  brainier  than  the  white  man,  but  being  a 
yellow  man,  he  has  been  able  to  accomplish  more  than  any 
white  man.  His  reception  to  the  hearts  of  all  men,  at  least 
the  reception  of  his  cause,  should  be  enthusiastic.  He 
stands  not  alone.  The  scores  of  idealists  and  fighters  of 
his  cabinet,  made  the  way  for  the  constructive  men  who 
will  now  take  hold,  and  some  of  these  men  are  now  our 
guests  in  America.  Above  all.  Sun  converted  Yuan  by  his 
self-obliteration,  and  Yuan  converted  the  obstructionist 
north.  What  if  the  Honanese  Yuan  is  at  the  head  of  affairs 
for  a  while  instead  of  the  Kwangtungese  Sun.  They  are 
both  Chinese  and  now  both  are  republicans.  China  now  has 
the  center  of  the  world's  stage,  and  America  has  built  the 
Panama  Canal  to  quickly  reach  a  front  seat  at  the  stage. 


90  JOHN    STUART   THOMSON 

The  actors  will  have  long  and  strenuous  parts,  and  the 
house  is  filling  up  rapidly  to  hear,  and  see,  and  applaud,  if 
all  is  (lone  well,  as  it  should  be.  \Vhen  the  Assemblies 
succeed  each  other,  Dr.  Sun's  turn  as  Premier  or  President 
will  doubtless  come.  A  bas  with  personal  jealousies,  anti- 
pathies, or  overleaping  ambitions.  Surely  there  is  room  for 
all  in  twenty-one  republics,  which  are  bound  as  one  common- 
wealth. As  Macaulay  said :  ''All  under  the  flag  should  serve 
the  state."  It  is  repression  of  individual  resentment  and 
ambition  which  has  made  England  and  America  so  govern- 
able, and  it  is  something  that  China  will  learn  as  the  years 
of  stress  surge  about  the  ship  of  state.  The  title  of  captain 
or  president  amounts  to  very  little  in  the  light  of  patriotism ; 
all  aboard  the  ship  are  equal  when  it  comes  to  manning 
the  pumps  and  shortening  or  letting  out  sail  according  to 
the  wdnds  that  blow.  Parties  will  arise  like  Sun's  new  party 
the  Tung  Men  Hwei  (Sworn  Brother);  provincial  feeling 
will  be  recrudescent  and  assertive;  leaders  and  their  fol- 
lowings  will  clash  at  times,  but  the  Chinese  must  learn,  as 
we  all  have  to  learn,  that  the  striving  must  be  one  way  o' 
the  rope,  and  not  a  tug  against  each  other  because  of  per- 
sonal greed,  low  ambition,  or  unruUness.  In  hundreds  of 
documents  issued  during  the  rebellion,  the  republicans  held 
up  two  men,  Washington  and  Napoleon  as  representing  suc- 
cessful protest  against  tyrants.  But  Washington  laid  the 
sword  by  the  minute  statesmanship  could  win.  Napoleon 
used  his  sword  to  advance  himself,  and  crush  every  will 
except  his  own:  the  way  of  an  egotist.  If  China  needs  a 
foreign  model  to  occasionally  look  at,  let  it  be  that  of  Wash- 
ington, with  his  eminent  moderation,  his  unselfishness,  his 
charity,  his  honor,  his  true  repubUcanism  which  sees  in  every 
citizen  (man  or  woman)  a  king  equal  to  himself,  for  the 
ballot  and  tax  receipt  have  made  all  men  equal  kings.  Do 
not  think  that  all  the  severity  you  hear  of  in  disturbed  . 
China  at  present  is  unnecessary  and  forebodes  dark  days.  I 
will  instance  one  parallel.  Before  the  days  of  direct  pri- 
mary nominations  in  America  we  suffered  from  the  machine : 
system  which  advanced  the  incompetent  sometimes  and 
sometimes  debarred  the  eminent  and  efficient  from  service! 


THE    REPUBLICAN   REVOLUTION    IN    CHINA  91 

in  the  state.  A  saloon  keeper,  who  brought  2000  votes  would 
demand  for  instance  the  position  of  Secretary  of  State. 
''But  you're  not  fitted  for  it;  you're  a  hoodlum,"  The  ward 
heeler  would  answer:  ''I  must  have  it;  I  have  to  pay  my 
2000  brigands  the  'graft,'  which  we  say  is  ours;  otherwise 
remember  our  revenge  next  election."  The  parallel!  One, 
Shek  Kam  Chuen,  a  young  stone  cutter  and  human  hair 
hawker  of  Canton  was  very  successful  in  smuggling  arms 
for  the  revolution,  and  on  the  declaration  of  independence 
he  led  a  following  of  2000  non-descript  men  who  did  effec- 
tive work  in  fighting.  They  were  men  who  loved  a  fight 
more  than  liberty,  not  liberty  more  than  life,  like  Nathan 
Hale.  When  the  republic  was  victorious,  and  his  troops 
were  disbanded  and  paid,  Shek  was  unsatisfied.  He,  a 
hawker,  wanted  high  office  when  even  President  Sun  turned 
his  brother  down  from  politics  back  to  business  in  Canton, 
because  he  was  not  eminent  for  political  ability.  Shek  made 
demands  for  himself  and  his  men  that  the  State  could  not 
consistently  grant.  He  smuggled  arms  to  take  up  piracy 
in  reprisal  on  the  harassed  State.  The  way  the  governor 
of  Canton  treated  Shek  and  his  legal  adviser  Chang  Han 
Hing  should  be  engraved  on  tablets  in  every  city  hall  of 
every  municipality  over  the  round  world.  The  governor 
under  the  constitutional  pressure  of  public  opinion,  captured 
the  men  at  their  headquarters,  and  under  military  law,  or 
the  application  of  the  popular  ''recall,"  he  had  them  both 
shot  to  the  great  rejoicing  of  good  citizens  and  tax  payers. 
That  ended  one  instance  of  heelerism,  bossism,  packed  pri- 
mary, professional  office  holding,  "public  office  a  private 
graft,"  piracy,  or  whatever  you  like  to  call  it,  in  modern 
China.  The  "popular  recall"  was  a  success,  despite  the 
cynicism  of  the  standpatters  in  Canton,  and  one  of  those 
standpatters  was  Shek's  wily  lawyer  Chang,  who  shared 
his  fate  much  to  his  disgusted  surprise.  I  am  sorry  William 
Dean  Howells  was  not  in  Canton  at  that  time  to  write 
A  Modern  Instance.  At  times  cables  may  come  to  us  that 
may  make  it  seem  that  in  troubled  China  Confucius  has 
abdicated  to  Confusion.  The  solution  largely  lies  in  three 
things:  railways,  education  and  a  real  republican  congress, 


92  JOHN   STUART   THOMSON 

none  of  the  throe  to  be  interfered  with  by  either  a  riotous 
or  office-greedy  army.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
action  of  the  ninety  generals  of  the  northern  army  in  forcing 
the  National  Assembly  at  Peking  in  July,  1912,  at  the 
sword's  point,  to  accept  certain  appointments  against  their 
will,  was  inimical  to  the  vitality  of  constitutionalism  in 
China.  Macaulay's  words  should  be  remembered  forever 
that  ' '  a  constitution  how^ever  faulty,  is  better  than  the  best 
despot."  The  day  however  is  bright,  and  despite  Tenny- 
son's dictum  a  "cycle  of  Cathay"  will  be  as  good  as  any 
other  cycle,  and  to  add  Roosevelt's  homely  epigram,  one's 
nation  should  be  made  as  good  for  all  of  us  as  it  has  been 
for  some  of  us — Manchus!  The  promise  that  America 
will  help  the  new  republican  China  is  surely  written  on  all 
our  hearts. 

So  acute  a  historian  as  Macaulay  (essay  on  Milton)  has 
pointed  out  that  the  destinies  of  the  human  race  are  some- 
times staked  on  the  same  cast  with  the  destinies  of  a  par- 
ticular people.  So  much  the  more  reason  why  we,  Uke  all 
other  nationals,  should  be  keenly  and  warmly  interested  in 
the  present  and  future  of  China,  because  so  many  American 
affairs  (the  Panama  Canal  and  the  Pacific  being  the  bonds) 
are  wrapt  up  in  Chinese  affairs. 


THE  WESTERN  INFLUENCE  IN  CHINA 

By  Edward  W.  Capen,  Ph.D.,  Hartford  School  of  Missions; 

recently  on  special  sociological  and  missionary  research 

in  the  Far  East 

The  striking  changes  that  have  occurred  within  a  twelve- 
month in  the  oldest,  the  most  populous  and  potentially  the 
most  powerful  nation  of  the  Orient  and  of  the  world,  are  of 
profound  significance  to  us  of  the  West.  We  are  in  large 
measure  responsible  for  what  has  occurred.  Besides  this, 
the  political  and  social  movements  in  China,  which  culmi- 
nated last  February  in  the  abdication  of  the  Manchu  dynasty 
after  a  rule  of  nearly  270  years,  and  the  inauguration  of 
what  has  been  characterized  as  the  Imperial  Republic  of 
China,  place  upon  western  nations  new  obligations  and  open 
to  them  new  opportunities.  It  is  therefore  fitting  that  the 
topic  "Western  Influence  in  China"  should  have  a  place 
upon  this  program. 

The  discussion  of  this  paper  falls  into  four  divisions:  I, 
What  western  influence  has  accomplished;  II,  What  west- 
ern influence  should  not  destroy;  III,  Where  China  can 
learn  from  the  West;  IV,  How  the  West  can  be  most  helpful. 

There  are  four  principal  channels  through  which  western 
influence  has  reached  China.  The  governments  of  Europe 
and  America  have  exerted  a  direct  pressure  upon  the  gov- 
ernment of  China  and  forced  changes  in  its  treatment  of 
foreigners  and  those  under  their  influence.  For  three  hun- 
dred years  western  merchants  tried  to  open  China  to  foreign 
commerce.  These  efforts  culminated  during  the  nineteenth 
century  in  wars  between  China  and  the  European  powers, 
chiefly  Great  Britain,  as  a  result  of  which  China  was  opened 
to  western  influence  as  exerted  by  the  trader  and  his  agents. 
A  third  channel  through  which  China  has  been  influenced 
from  the  West  may   be  called  simply  western  example. 

93 


94  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

Especially  in  these  later  years,  say  within  the  last  genera- 
tion, a  considerable  number  of  Chinese,  chiefly  students 
and  diplomatic  representatives,  h^ve  visited  the  West  for 
longer  or  shorter  periods,  have  thus  become  more  or  less 
familiar  with  western  institutions  and  ideals,  and  have  on 
their  return  taught  many  of  these  ideas  to  their  friends  and 
associates.  The  experiences  of  the  Chinese  who  have  set- 
tled in  western  lands,  chiefly  along  the  western  shores  of 
the  American  continent,  and  still  more  recently  the  intro- 
duction of  western  books  and  the  publication  in  China  of 
books  and  periodicals  that  give  the-  facts  about  western  Ufe, 
thought  and  achievements,  have  spread  the  knowledge  and 
influence  of  things  western,  especially  among  students  and 
the  progressive  classes.  To  the  influence  of  Chinese  who 
have  visited  or  resided  in  the  West  or  who  have  become 
familiar  with  its  life,  should  be  added  that  of  the  personal 
example  of  the  westerners  who  visit  or  live  in  China.  This 
influence,  though  largely  centered  in  the  port  cities,  is  by 
no  means  to  be  disregarded.  Finally,  perhaps  the  most 
important  of  all  channels,  is  the  Christian  missionary.  He 
has  been  the  first  to  penetrate  to  the  more  remote  parts  of 
the  countr3^  He  has  come  closest  to  the  life  of  the  people, 
and  unlike  many  a  trader  or  government  official,  has  for  the 
most  part  stood  resolutely  as  the  embodiment  of  the  best  ele- 
ments in  the  life  of  the  West.  His — and  I  should  add  specifi- 
cally her — quiet  and  pervasive  personal  influence  has  had 
very  much  to  do  with  laying  the  foundations  for  the  new 
regime. 

Such  are  some  of  the  channels  through  which  western 
influence  has  reached  China.  What  have  been  the  results? 
The  answer  to  this  question  forms  our  first  point. 

I.  What  Western  Influence  has  Accomplished 

In  general,  the  chief  effects  of  the  influence  of  western 
governments  and  commerce  have  concerned  the  industrial 
development  of  China.  Those  of  western  example  have 
modified  the  educational  and  political  systems  of  the  coun- 
try, while  those  of  missionary  work  have  affected  the  educa- 
tional, philanthropic,  and  ethical  ideals. 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE   IN   CHINA  95 

Until  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment confined  all  its  commercial  relations  with  foreigners 
to  the  frontier.  Canton  was  the  center  of  the  trade  with 
Europe  and  America  until  the  treaty  of  Nanking  in  1842, 
which  closed  the  so-called  Opium  War  with  Great  Britain, 
ceded  Hongkong  to  England  and  opened  five  treaty  ports. 
Canton,  Amoy,  Foochow,  Ningpo,  and  Shanghai.  As  a 
result  of  subsequent  wars  or  pressure  otherwise  exerted, 
the  number  of  these  ports  has  increased  to  forty-nine,  located 
on  the  frontiers,  along  the  coast,  and  on  the  navigable  rivers. 
With  the  development  of  foreign  trade  came  the  adoption 
in  1854  of  rules  by  which  the  collection  of  customs  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  foreigners.  Starting  with  the  organ- 
ization in  1861  of  a  department  for  the  transmission  of  its 
own  postal  matter,  the  Customs  Department  began  in  1876 
to  open  its  service  to  the  public,  and  twenty  years  later 
the  Imperial  Post  was  organized  and  grafted  upon  the  Cus- 
toms. It  was  transferred  in  May,  1911,  to  the  Chinese 
Board  of  Communications.  While  the  government  and 
large  merchants  had  always  had  means  of  transmitting 
letters,  the  ordinary  Chinese  had  none.  The  statistics  for 
1910  give  the  number  of  post-offices  as  5,357,  the  articles 
transmitted  355,000,000,  including  3,750,000  parcels  and 
25,500,000,  registered  articles.  The  money  order  system 
transported  $10,000,000.  The  postal  routes  covered  13,000 
miles  by  railways  and  steamers,  and  87,000  miles  by  regular 
couriers.  The  telegraph  system,  which  has  been  independ- 
ent of  the  customs  service,  has  developed  less  rapidly,  but 
during  the  year  1909  over  600  miles  of  new  lines  were  con- 
structed and  twenty-two  new  offices  opened.  There  are 
now  560  offices  and  28,000  miles  of  telegraph  lines  connect- 
ing the  principal  cities  and  the  neighboring  countries. 

Just  about  the  time  when  the  postal  service  was  insti- 
tuted, foreigners  in  1875  opened  the  first  railway  in  China 
from  Shanghai  to  Wusung.  Within  two  years  the  line, 
which  had  come  into  possession  of  the  government,  was 
torn  up,  everything,  including  engines  and  cars,  dumped 
upon  the  shores  of  Formosa,  and  a  temple  erected  upon  the 
site  of  the  station.     Such  were  the  unpropitious  beginnings 


90  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

of  the  attempt  of  foreigners  to  improve  the  transportation 
facihties  of  China.  Later,  under  foreign  stimulus,  the  Chi- 
nese took  up  the  railway  question  again,  but  made  little 
progress  until  the  era  of  foreign  concessions  that  succeeded 
the  close  of  the  war  with  Japan  in  1895.  So  rapid  was  the 
construction  that  within  sixteen  years  5500  miles  have  been 
opened  to  traffic  and  2800  miles  of  trunk  lines  are  under 
construction,  and  these  figures  do  not  include  the  Japanese 
and  Kussian  railways  in  Manchuria.  The  projected  lines 
will  connect  all  parts  of  the  country,  including  even  Thibet, 
with  the  political  and  commercial  centers.  The  Chinese 
are  as  rapidly  as  possible  taking  over  these  railways  and 
bringing  them  under  complete  Chinese  control. 

Added  to  the  railways  are  the  steamer  lines  along  the 
coast  and  the  internal  waterways  of  the  country.  The  Yang- 
tse  system  alone  furnishes  12,000  miles  of  water  navigation, 
and  in  general  there  are  8000  miles  of  rivers  in  China  navi- 
gable by  steamers.  Since  1898  the  internal  waters  have 
been  opened  to  vessels  flying  foreign  flags.  While  this  per- 
mission would  not  have  been  granted  by  a  nation  able  to 
resist,  it  has  resulted  in  securing  for  the  chief  river  routes 
comfortable  and  speedy  steamers  that  sail  under  the  British 
German,  French,  Japanese  and  Chinese  flags. 

These  improvements  in  means  of  communication  have 
made  possible  the  new  China.  When  the  unwieldy  junk, 
the  man  or  woman  propelled  river  or  canal  boat,  with  a 
sail  as  auxiliary  power,  the  sedan  chair,  the  wheelbarrow 
or  cart  moving  slowly  over  the  egregious  roads,  were  the 
swiftest  means  of  communication,  the  \drtual  independence 
of  the  provinces  was  inevitable.  The  increasing  unity  of 
thought  and  action  brought  about  by  improved  means  of 
communication  made  it  possible  for  the  entire  empire  to 
throw  off  the  rule  of  the  Manchus  within  a  few  months. 
The  effects  of  floods  and  famines  can  now  be  mitigated  and 
speedy  rehef  secured.  On  the  other  hand,  thousands,  or 
even  millions,  of  river  boatmen,  chair  coolies,  carters  and 
the  like  have  lost  their  means  of  support.  Important  cities 
and  towns  situated  on  the  old  routes  are  losing  business 
and  population,  while  new  towns  and  cities  are  developing 
at  the  new  distributing  points. 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE   IN   CHINA  97 

Western  influence  and  competition  are  leading  also  to 
industrial  changes,  such  as  the  opening  of  mines,  the  estab- 
lishment of  large  manufacturing  plants  like  the  Hanyang 
Iron  Works,  managed  by  western-trained  Chinese,  and  the 
growth  of  factories  with  power-  or  improved  hand-looms. 
The  inevitable  suffering  caused  by  industrial  development 
is  increased  in  the  case  of  China  by  the  pressure  of  popula- 
tion upon  the  soil,  the  relative  immobiUty  and  conservatism 
of  labor,  and  the  lack  of  education  and  adaptability  among 
the  masses.  It  is  reduced  somewhat  by  the  solidarity  of 
the  Chinese  and  their  ability  to  exist  upon  a  pitifully  small 
income. 

The  millions  of  Chinese  furnish,  it  is  believed,  an  almost 
unlimited  and  unworked  market,  and  the  West  is  seeking 
to  force  the  sale  of  its  wares.  The  effect  of  this  is  not  always 
good,  even  apart  from  the  dislocation  of  industry. 

The  net  increase  in  the  importation  of  western  liquors  dur- 
ing the  year  1909  as  compared  with  1908  was  Taels  845,186. 
These  threaten  to  take  the  place  of  opium  among  the  wealth- 
ier classes.  The  western  cigarette  is  further  impoverishing 
the  common  people,  the  daily  consumption  being  put  at 
twenty  millions.  So  serious  are  the  consequences  that  cer- 
tain regions  have  driven  out  the  salesmen,  torn  down  their 
posters,  and  destroyed  all  the  cigarettes  they  could  find. 
But  with  a  courage  and  persistence  worthy  of  a  better  cause, 
and  aided,  it  has  been  alleged,  by  drugged  cigarettes,  the 
representatives  of  the  British-American  Tobacco  Company 
are  continuing  their  work  of  driving  out  the  cheap  and 
innocuous  Chinese  tobacco  with  this  more  expensive  and 
deleterious  western  product. 

The  injection  of  morphia  is  another  vice  for  the  intro- 
duction and  maintenance  of  which  foreigners  are  responsible. 
There  are  no  records  before  1892,  but  during  the  ten  years 
from  1892  to  1902,  the  importation  increased  from  15,761 
ounces  to  195,133  ounces,  each  ounce  being  good  for  from 
one  to  two  thousand  injections.  In  1903  a  prohibitory 
tax  was  imposed,  and  the  imports  declared  to  the  customs 
at  once  fell  off  to  128  ounces  in  1904  and  54  ounces  in  1905. 
The  explanation  of  this  is  smuggling. 


98  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

In  this  realm  western  influence  is  decidedly  a  mixed 
blessing. 

The  chief  eff"ects  of  western  example  have  been  in  the 
realms  of  education,  political  organization  and  administra- 
tion, and  social  ideals. 

For  generations,  China  had  an  education  that  was  based 
upon  the  study  of  the  Chinese  classics.  It  was  remarkable 
for  its  antiquity,  its  democracy,  and,  as  contact  with  the 
West  revealed,  its  inadequacy.  It  did  not  produce  men 
who  could  lead  China  successfully  in  competition  with  the 
rest  of  the  world.  Western  education  was  introduced  into 
China  by  the  missionaries.  Catholic  and  Protestant.  In 
1861  the  Imperial  Maritime  Customs,  which  were  under 
foreign  control,  started  two  colleges  in  Peking  and  Canton. 
These  were  taught  by  foreigners  and  were  chiefly  for  the 
training  of  Chinese  interpreters.  The  first  systematic 
attempt  to  send  Chinese  students  abroad  for  education  was 
made  in  1872,  but  ended  in  the  recall  of  the  students  from 
the  United  States  in  1881.  After  the  war  with  Japan,  1894- 
95,  the  great  Viceroy  Chang  Chih-tung  advocated  that 
upon  the  ancient  Chinese  education  should  be  grafted  west- 
ern subjects.  During  the  brief  reform  period  of  1898,  the 
late  emperor  by  a  series  of  decrees  abolished  the  old  literary 
essay  as  the  standard  for  literary  examination,  and  ordered 
the  establishment  of  schools  and  colleges  in  provincial  cap- 
itals, and  in  prefectural,  departmental,  and  district  cities, 
directed  that  existing  schools  should  be  altered  into  schools 
for  practical  Chinese  literature  and  for  western  learning, 
and  created  the  Imperial  University  at  Peking,  appointing 
as  its  head  that  veteran  missionary,  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin. 
With  the  reaction  that  culminated  in  the  Boxer  uprising 
of  1900,  all  these  changes  were  swept  away,  only  to  be 
renewed  again  under  the  late  Empress  Dowager  during  the 
last  decade.  Before  the  overthrow  of  the  Manchu  dynasty, 
it  was  pro\dded  by  a  decree  of  January  13,  1903,  that  a 
complete  educational  system  should  be  created,  extending 
from  the  kindergarten  up  through  the  primary,  higher  pri- 
mary, and  middle  school,  to  the  high  school  (or  college),  the 
university  and  the  post-graduate  college  for  higher  studies. 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE   IN   CHINA  99 

Provision  was  also  made  for  the  education  of  girls  and  the 
training  of  teachers.  This  educational  system  was  modeled 
upon  that  of  Japan,  which  is  along  German  lines.  It  called 
into  its  service  foreigners  and  Chinese  educated  abroad. 
While  many  of  the  schools  existed  only  on  paper  and  the 
average  efficiency  was  low,  yet  there  were  notable  exceptions, 
especially  in  the  imperial  province  of  Chihli.  Whatever 
the  quality,  the  numbers  of  the  new  schools  and  of  their 
students  rapidly  increased.  At  the  close  of  1910,  there  were 
in  Peking  alone  252  such  schools  with  15,774  students,  and 
in  the  provinces  42,444  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  1,284,- 
965.  Because  of  recognized  imperfections,  the  Board  of 
Education  last  year  called  together  in  Peking  the  leading 
scholars  and  educators  of  China,  who  formed  themselves 
into  the  Central  Education  Society  and  proceeded  to  dis- 
cuss educational  problems,  and  make  recommendations  to 
the  Board  of  Education.  Under  the  new  government  the 
movement  is  along  these  same  lines,  including  even  the 
recognition  of  English  as  an  official  language,  and  the  pro- 
posed abolition  of  the  compulsory  worship  of  the  tablet  of 
Confucius,  which  abolition  has  actually  been  put?  into  effect 
in  the  Kwangtung  province.  So  serious  was  the  reaction 
against  the  old  education  that  at  one  time  mission  schools 
had  difficulty  in  inducing  their  pupils  to  study  the  Chinese 
classics  or  cultivate  a  beautiful  literary  style.  If  the  papers 
may  be  credited,  a  prominent  member  of  the  new  cabinet 
is  unable  to  read  or  write  in  his  own  language.  A  purely 
western  education  is,  of  course,  only  one  degree  less  to  be 
deplored  than  the  old  discarded  Chinese  education. 

Similarly,  in  the  political  realm,  contact  with  the  West 
led  the  reform  party  in  China  to  demand  the  reconstruction 
of  government  along  the  lines  of  western  parliamentary 
institutions.  Theoretically  the  government  of  the  Manchus 
was  that  of  an  absolute  monarchy  but  actually  the  provinces 
enjoyed  a  large  measure  of  autonomy,  and  the  local  com- 
munities for  the  most  part  governed  themselves.  It  is  this 
democratic  foundation  of  the  empire  that  is  one  of  the  rea- 
sons for  believing  that  the  present  political  experiment  of 
China  will  succeed.     The  graft  and  corruption  which  char- 


100  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

acterized  the  old  administration,  its  inefficiency  and  the  lack 
of  a  real  unity,  led,  with  the  growth  of  the  spirit  of  nation- 
alism, to  a  demand  for  political  reforms.  Pressure  from 
western  governments  had  already  secured  some  changes 
that  affected  international  relations.  Such  was  the  organ- 
ization in  1861,  after  the  capture  of  Peking  by  the  French 
and  British,  of  the  Tsungli  Yamen,  changed  forty  years 
later  into  the  Waiwu  Pu,  as  the  Board  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
The  great  step  forward  was  the  appointment  in  1905  of  an 
Imperial  Commission  to  study  the  administrative  systems 
of  foreign  countries  with  a  view  to  the  possible  establish- 
ment of  a  representative  government  in  China.  This 
appointment  committed  the  government  to  a  policy  of 
reform.  The  commission  reported  the  following  year,  and  a 
little  later  a  decree  was  issued  promising  the  calling  at  some 
date  in  the  future  of  a  parliament.  Administrative  reforms 
were  made,  some  useless  offices  abolished,  certain  boards 
consolidated,  and  new  boards  instituted.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  remove  the  bitterness  between  Manchu  and  Chinese 
by  abolishing  some  of  the  distinctions  and  depriving  the 
Manchus  of  certain  pri\ileges.  In  August,  1908,  an  imper- 
ial decree  laid  down  a  nine  year  program  for  constitutional 
reform.  From  October  14  to  November  23,  1909,  provincial 
assemblies  met,  the  first  really  representative  bodies  to  be 
summoned  by  the  government  to  have  a  share,  but  only  as 
advisers,  in  the  government  of  the  empire.  From  that  time 
on  the  government  had  no  peace,  for  the  demand  for  a 
demand  for  a  responsible  cabinet  and  the  speedy  summon- 
ing of  a  parliament  was  incessantly  pressed.  The  first 
National  Assembly  met  October  2,  1910,  and  immediately 
sought  to  arrogate  to  itself  powers  which  the  Crown  had 
not  dreamed  of  granting.  The  most  that  the  Throne  would 
concede  was  the  promise  of  a  cabinet  the  next  year  and  a 
Parliament  at  the  end  of  three  years.  This  did  not  satisfy 
the  people,  and  before  the  second  session  of  the  National 
Assembly  was  convened  last  autumn  the  revolution  was  in 
full  swing  and  culminated  in  the  abdication  of  the  Manchus 
February  12,  1912.  The  object  of  the  Throne  in  its  program 
for  constitutional  reform  had  been  to  consolidate  the  empire, 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE    IN   CHINA  101 

deprive  the  provinces  of  their  virtual  autonomy,  nationalize 
finance,  justice  and  education,  and,  by  admitting  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  to  an  advisory  position,  quiet  the 
demand  for  self-government.  The  Throne  did  not  propose 
to  divest  itself  of  its  legislative,  administrative  and  judicial 
prerogatives;  nor  was  it  to  be  required  to  adopt  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  assemblies.  At  the  present  time  in  the 
construction  of  the  new  government,  the  influence  of  west- 
ern example  is  clearly  evident.  Republican  forms  are  being 
followed  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Orient. 
In  the  new  National  Assembly,  the  upper  house,  or  Senate, 
is  to  represent  the  provinces,  the  dependencies  and  the 
Chinese  abroad,  and  each  province  is  to  have  equal  repre- 
sentation. The  lower  house  will  be  composed  of  one  repre- 
sentative for  each  800,000  of  the  population.  The  primary 
elections  have  been  called  for  December  10th. 

China  seeks  more  than  representative  government.  The 
extra- territoriality  upon  which  in  the  past  Western  nations 
have  rightly  insisted  is  most  galling  to  the  proud  and  sensi- 
tive Chinese.  The  leaders  recognize,  however,  that  it  is  use- 
less to  demand  any  change  until  the  judicial  system  has 
been  reorganized  along  western  lines,  with  a  true  penal  code, 
incorruptible  courts,  and  properly  administered  prisons. 
The  movement  in  this  direction  has  been  going  on  for  some 
time.  Five  years  ago  experts  began  the  compilation  of  a  new 
penal  code,  which  after  several  revisions  was  adopted  in 
1910.  In  January  of  last  year  were  held  the  first  of  the 
regular  examinations  in  law  which  were  to  be  compulsory 
upon  all  new  officials  in  the  Board  of  Justice.  Not  long 
after,  it  was  decided  to  establish  a  high  court  of  justice  in 
each  province  and  this  was  done  in  the  progressive  ones. 
This  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  these  courts  are  yet 
ideal.  Only  other  pressing  events  prevented  the  carrying 
into  effect  of  proposals  for  the  better  administration  of  the 
civil  courts.  Almost  before  the  revolution  was  complete, 
the  provisional  government  in  Shanghai  established  a  mod- 
ern court  with  three  well  qualified  judges,  two  of  whom  were 
trained  in  Great  Britian,  and  in  this  court,  for  the  first  time 
in  China,  there  sat  a  jury  drawn  by  lot  from  lists  of  citizens. 


102  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

The  outcome  of  this  first  trial,  however,  was  such  as  to  raise 
a  question  as  to  whether  China  is  yet  ready  for  the  proper 
appHeation  of  the  jury  system.  The  Manchu  government 
issued  edicts  aboUshing  torture,  but  the  experience  of  the 
mixed  court  in  Shanghai  leads  to  a  doubt  as  to  whether  the 
Chinese  are  ready  to  be  governed  and  to  see  justice  done 
without  the  use  of  the  bamboo  to  extort  confession.  The 
prisons  of  China  have  been  places  of  horror  to  a  westerner 
but  these  are  being  reformed.  China  was  represented  at  the 
last  International  Congress  on  Prison  Reform  by  delegates 
who  subsequently  made  a  study  of  European  prisons.  As 
long  ago  as  1908  I  was  privileged  to  visit  in  Tientsin  and 
Paotingfu  what  might  almost  be  called  model  prisons,  in 
which  the  prisoners  were  well  cared  for  under  good  sanitary 
conditions,  were  given  instruction,  and  were  taught  useful 
arts.  This  movement  is  spreading  wherever  want  of  will 
and  of  money  do  not  prevent,  and  a  model  prison  has  been 
discovered  even  in  distant  Yunnan. 

In  addition  to  these  fundamental  changes  in  education 
and  government,  the  leaders  of  the  new  China  are  imbued 
with  western  ideals  and  are  adopting  western  customs.  On 
February  22,  1910,  the  government  issued  an  edict  abolish- 
ing slavery  and  prohibiting  the  buying  and  selling  of  human 
beings  in  China.  No  maidservants  or  concubines  were  to 
be  sold,  and  concubines  had  their  position  improved.  There 
were  loop  holes  and  it  was  reported  a  year  later  that  there 
was  no  evidence  that  the  edict  had  made  any  difference  to 
the  large  number  of  farm  laborers  who  are  slaves.  Some  of 
the  most  radical  reformers  have  adopted  the  ultra-western 
views  rearding  the  position  of  woman  and  the  relations  of 
the  sexes.  An  extreme  and  far  from  admirable  new  woman 
had  appeared  four  years  ago  in  certain  Chinese  cities  like 
Nanking.  With  the  advent  of  the  new  regime  this  has 
been  carried  still  further,  with  disastrous  consequences  to 
many  young  women,  who  have  found  to  their  sorrow  and 
shame  that  Chinese  society  is  not  yet  ready  for  that  freedom 
of  which  they  had  heard  and  which  they  sought  to  exercise 
apart  from  the  restraints  and  limitations  which  are  insisted 
upon  even  in  the  West.     Educated  young  Chinese  here  and 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE   IN   CHINA  103 

there  demand  some  voice  at  least  in  the  choice  of  their 
future  wife  or  husband,  and  a  recent  issue  of  a  Chinese 
paper  reports  the  case  of  an  irate  father  in  Canton  whose  feel- 
ings may  be  imagined  when  he  discovered  that  his  daughter 
was  being  courted  by  a  young  man  in  western  fashion. 
There  is  one  reform,  however,  affecting  women  that  is 
wholly  commendable.  This  is  the  natural  foot  movement 
which  seeks  to  remove  from  Chinese  women  the  incubus  of 
suffering  and  disability  resulting  from  the  cruel  practice  of 
binding  the  feet.  Begun  by  western  ladies,  missionary 
and  civihan,  resident  in  China,  the  Anti-Foot-Binding  Soci- 
ety has  been  taken  over  by  the  Chinese,  and  this  reform  is 
now  thoroughly  naturalized.  Western  methods  of  saluta- 
tion and  western  dress  are  being  adopted,  often  with  deplor- 
able and  ill-considered  rapidity.  Beyond  these  specific 
reforms,  there  has  been  noted  an  increasing  humaneness 
in  the  public  sentiment  concerning  various  relics  of  a  less 
advanced  civilization  than  is  now  advocated  for  the  new 
China. 

There  has  recently  come  to  my  notice  a  copy  of  the  pro- 
gram of  the  Social  Reform  Association,  which  was  organized 
a  few  months  ago  by  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  new  China 
while  they  were  on  the  steamer  going  north  to  take  over  the 
reigns  of  government.  Among  the  leaders  in  the  Association 
were  the  late  premier  Tang  Shao-yi,  the  ministers  of  Navy,, 
Education,  Agriculture  and  Forestry,  and  many  others. 
This  association  as  reported  in  a  Chinese  paper  is  pledged 
to  a  list  of  reforms,  thirty-three  in  number,  of  which  I  will 
quote  a  few: 

2.  Do  not  take  concubines. 

3.  Advocate  independent  holding  of  property  after  coming  to 
age. 

4.  Cultivate  dependence  on  self,  not  on  friends  and  on  relatives. 

5.  Accord  full  equality  between  men  and  women. 

6.  Prohibit  early  marriage. 

7-9.  Advocate  marriage  by  choice,  the  right  of  divorce  and  of 
remarriage. 

11.  Advocate  small  families. 

14.  Abolish  kow-tow  using  a  bow  in  its  place. 

15.  Abolish  foot-binding,  wearing  of  earrings  and  face  painting. 
17.  Receive  no  gifts  while  holding  official  positions. 


104  EDWARD    W.    CAPEN 

20.  Advocate  the  givinj!;  of  private  property  to  benefit  the  public. 
24.  Prohibit   idols   and   images. 

2").  Prohibit  geomancy,  or  other  forms  of  divination. 
26.  Prohibit  appetites  that  are  harmful  to  health,  such  as  smok- 
ing,  drinking,   etc. 

33.  Prohibit  indecent  advertisements. 

These  and  the  other  reforms  concern  themselves  with  moral- 
ity and  with  simplicity  and  purity  of  life.  Nearly  every 
one  is  in  harmony  with  western  and  with  Christian  ideals, 
and  strikes  at  some  established  custom  or  institution  of 
China. 

Another  side  to  this  question  of  western  influence  should 
be  noted,  and  that  is  that  western  example  is  not  always 
helpful.  The  evil  lives  of  many  foreigners  resident  in  China, 
the  fact  that  the  worst  sides  of  our  life  are  often  the  only 
sides  seen  by  the  Chinese  students  in  the  West,  the  demoral- 
izing example  of  the  social  evils  existing  in  the  West  with 
which  the  Chinese  are  familiar,  and  the  influence  of  our 
yellow  press  and  of  our  pseudo-scientific  and  atheistic  treat- 
ises, not  to  mention  our  decadent  literature,  are  to  be  allowed 
for  as  counterbalancing  the  otherwise  helpful  influence  of 
western  example. 

The  fourth  channel  through  which  western  influence  has 
reached  China  has  been  the  missionary,  both  Protestant 
and  Catholic.  The  missionary  has  affected  China  through 
schools,  medical  work,  and  the  publishing  of  books  and 
papers,  as  well  as  by  the  preaching  of  the  Christian  religion 
with  its  high  ethical  ideals. 

The  number  of  missionaries  through  whom  the  western 
influence  is  exerted  runs  up  into  the  thousands.  The  latest 
statistics  indicate  the  presence  in  China  of  over  5000  Protest- 
ant missionaries  and  of  nearly  50  Roman  Catholic  Bishops, 
assisted  by  more  than  1400  European  priests.  Associated 
with  them  as  coworkers  are,  for  the  Protestants  15,500  Chi- 
nese clergy,  unordained,  religious  workers,  medical  assistants 
and  teachers,  both  men  and  women,  and  for  the  Catholics  700 
Chinese  priests  and  an  unreported  number  of  other  helpers. 
The  diplomatic  and  consular  officials  reside  in  the  capital 
and  in  the  port  cities.  The  representatives  of  western  indus- 
trial life  have  usually  resided  in  these  same  centers,  though 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE    IN    CHINA  105 

now  they  travel  through  the  provinces  advertising  and  sell- 
ing their  goods.  On  the  other  hand,  the  missionaries  are 
found  all  through  China.  They  remain  for  years  in  the 
same  region  (one  missionary  in  Fukien  has  completed  thirty- 
five  years  at  one  city),  travel  widely  through  the  country 
districts,  and  win  the  support  of  the  people.  Such  mission- 
aries have  done  much  to  commend  things  western  to  the 
Chinese.  Thus,  a  Chinese  official,  who  had  not  been  fav- 
orable to  missionary  work  and  who  was  noted  for  his  biting 
criticisms  of  certain  prominent  missionaries,  nevertheless 
made  the  following  statement  a  few  years  ago  to  a  mission- 
ary in  Nanking,  with  whom  he  was  intimate:  ''Why  is  it 
that  the  foreigners  all  like  to  come  to  Nanking?  It  is 
because  you  missionaries  came  first  and  made  a  favorable 
impression.  In  Canton  it  was  a  regular  hell  on  earth  until 
the  missionaries  came  and  tried  to  make  things  better." 
A  sociologist  who  went  to  China  a  few  years  since  preju- 
diced against  the  missionary  soon  discovered  that  the  mis- 
sionary was  virtually  the  only  foreigner  who  got  into  the 
heart  life  of  the  people  and  could  give  the  traveler  the  real 
facts.  The  residence  in  China  of  so  many  westerners,  who 
speak  the  vernacular,  most  of  whom  live  in  their  own  homes 
and  embody  western  ideals  of  culture,  purity,  and  service 
has  had  an  influence  that  no  statistics  reveal. 

The  missionary  has  been  the  pioneer  of  modern  education 
in  China.  The  Protestant  missionaries  maintain  3700  day 
or  primary  schools  with  86,000  pupils  and  more  than  500 
higher  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  more  than  31,000.  Up 
until  recently  the  Christian  schools  have  been  the  best  in 
the  country,  and  even  now  but  few  government  schools  can 
compete  with  the  best  Christian  schools  in  the  grade  of  their 
teaching,  especially  of  EngUsh  and  western  subjects,  and 
above  all  in  their  moral  tone.  The  ethical  influence  of  most 
government  schools,  it  is  declared,  leaves  much  to  be  desired, 
while  the  Christian  school  seeks  by  moral  and  religious 
instruction  and  by  careful  supervision  and  discipline  to 
develop  the  pupils  into  strong  and  public  spirited  men  and 
women.  The  direct  influence  of  this  educational  work  has 
been  great  but  its  indirect  influence  is  even  greater.     Not 


100  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

only  have  these  schools  trained  leaders  for  the  new  China, 
but  their  success  has  helped  to  awaken  an  interest  in  a  west- 
ernized education,  missionaries  were  drafted  into  the 
service  of  the  government  education,  and  earnest  Christian 
teachers  have  been  employed  by  the  government  in  its  own 
schools. 

Again,  the  missionary  has  been  a  pioneer  in  the  relief  of 
physical  suffering.  Even  today  China  probably  is  the  scene 
of  more  unnecessary  physical  suffering  than  any  other  equal 
area  on  the  globe.  Every  since  the  days  of  Dr.  Peter 
Parker,  who  nearly  eighty  years  ago  opened  a  hospital  in 
Canton  and  within  less  than  two  years  had  treated  more 
than  nineteen  hundred  eye  patients,  the  medical  missionary 
has  done  much  to  remove  prejudice,  to  commend  western 
science  and  the  Christianity  that  is  taught  and  lived  by 
the  missionary  physician,  and  to  open  the  doors  to  other 
uplifting  influences.  From  these  small  beginnings  the  work 
has  grown  until  now  there  are  reported  more  than  three 
hundred  medical  missionaries,  of  whom  nearly  one-third  are 
women,  who  have  charge  of  235  hospitals  and  two  hundred 
dispensaries.  The  number  of  in-patients  during  the  last 
year  for  which  we  have  reports  was  more  than  50,000  and 
the  number  of  out-patients  one  and  a  quarter  million.  Not 
content  with  this,  the  physician  has  added  to  his  other 
multifarious  duties  that  of  training  Chinese  men, — and 
women  too, — as  nurses  and  physicians.  The  finest  medical 
school  in  China,  located  at  Peking  and  patronized  by  the 
government,  is  under  missionary  auspices,  and  there  are 
developing  in  other  provinces  similar  advanced  schools. 
The  more  elementary  schools  are  also  rendering  noble  service 
and  there  are  many  Chinese  physicians  who  are  proud  to 
advertise  the  fact  that  they  studied  under  a  beloved  and 
honored  Christian  doctor.  There  are  some  six  hundred 
Chinese  thus  being  trained  as  physicians  and  nurses  in  some 
eighty  classes  or  schools.  In  these  days  the  number  of 
highly  trained  Chinese  physicians  is  increasing,  but  the  num- 
ber is  still  so  small  that  there  is  great  need  for  further  enlarg- 
ing the  Christian  medical  forces  connected  with  the  missions. 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE   IN   CHINA  107 

The  first  insane  asylum  in  China  was  opened  by  a  mission- 
ary, and  a  hundred  opium  refuges,  some  twenty  leper  hos- 
pitals and  asylums,  and  institutions  for  the  blind  are  other 
closely  allied  branches  of  Christian  service  conducted  by 
missionaries.  The  maintenance  of  orphanages  and  the  work 
of  famine  rehef  exhibit  to  the  Chinese  the  humanitarian 
aspect  of  our  western  civilization.  The  Chinese  have  been 
stimulated  to  open  hospitals  of  their  own,  either  with  west- 
ern or  with  Chinese  medical  treatment.  All  this  has  done 
much  to  increase  the  humaneness  of  Chinese  life  and  take 
away  the  feeling  of  helplessness  on  the  part  of  sufferers.  It 
need  hardly  be  added  that  the  missionary  physicians  did 
yeoman  service  with  the  Chinese  physicians  during  the 
scourge  of  pneumonic  plague  in  Manchuria  in  the  winter  of 
1911. 

Still  a  third  line  of  missionary  work  is  that  of  the  press. 
Not  only  have  the  missionaries  taught  western  science,  his- 
tory, and  philosophy,  but  they  were  pioneers  in  pubhshing 
in  Chinese  not  only  rehgious  works  but  also  scientific  books, 
translated  or  original.  Text-books  for  schools  and  colleges, 
up-to-date  medical  works  and  books  on  such  subjects  as 
economics  and  international  law  have  been  produced  by 
the  missionary.  The  great  Commercial  Press  of  Shanghai, 
which  is  the  largest  printing  establishment  in  Asia,  employ- 
ing more  than  one  thousand  hands  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,- 
000  and  net  annual  profits  of  S200,000  Mexican,  was  started 
by  Christian  Chinese,  who  were  trained  in  a  mission  press. 
Their  business  is  conducted  on  advanced  principles  with 
profit  sharing  and  welfare  work.  This  press  is  producing 
the  books  for  the  new  schools  of  China  and  is  printing  trans- 
lations of  the  best  western  works.  One  object  of  this  lit- 
erary activity  by  missionaries  is  to  reach  those  who  are  not 
otherwise  directly  reached.  This  object  has  been  behind 
such  efforts  as  that  of  Dr.  Gilbert  Reid  and  his  Interna- 
tional Institute,  of  a  British  missionary  hke  Mr.  White- 
wright  of  Shantung  and  his  museum,  which  was  visited  in 
1909  by  215,000  people  of  whom  more  than  a  thousand  were 
officials,  and  of  the  scientific  work  carried  on  by  the  Y.  M. 


lOS  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

C.  A.  in  various  parts  of  China.  In  these  ways,  those  ordin- 
arily beyond  the  range  of  foreign  influence  are  interested 
in  western  science. 

Still  further,  through  what  might  be  called  the  primary 
work  of  the  missionary,  viz.,  the  gathering  of  Christian 
cliurches,  the  missionary,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  is 
a  channel  through  which  western  influence  reaches  the  people. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  reports  more  than  1,350,000 
Chinese  Christians,  while  the  Protestant  figures  show  a 
Christian  community  of  about  325,000,  with  a  larger  num- 
ber, perhaps  three-quarters  of  a  million,  under  Christian 
influence.  While  no  attempt  is  made  to  westernize  the 
converts,  while  every  effort,  in  fact,  is  make  to  keep  them 
as  thoroughly  Chinese  in  the  best  sense  as  possible,  yet 
contact  with  the  missionary  and  the  adoption  of  Christianity 
as  a  religion  inevitably  gives  these  people  the  western  point 
of  view  in  those  respects  in  which  western  civilization 
embodies  the  ideals  of  Christianity.  The  Christians  stand 
against  opium  and  gambling,  the  twin  curses  of  China,  insist 
upon  the  better  treatment  of  women  and  the  suppression 
of  female  infanticide,  once  so  frightfully  common,  and  advo- 
cate and  practice  the  unbinding  of  the  feet.  Parents  often 
desire  their  daughters  to  be  married  to  Christian  young 
men  because  they  will  be  sure  of  considerate  treatment. 
Non-Christian  Chinese  have  testified  to  the  higher  moral 
standards  among  Christians,  and  the  leaders  of  the  Christian 
Chinese  church,  pastors,  teachers,  and  physicians,  are  a  body 
of  men  of  the  highest  character,  combining  the  best  elements 
of  Chinese  civilization  with  the  best  elements  derived  from 
the  West.  For  years  the  requirement  that  officials  and 
teachers  in  government  schools  should  be  present  and  share 
in  periodic  ceremonies  which  Christians  felt  themselves 
unable  for  conscientious  reasons  to  countenance,  excluded 
them  from  public  life,  but  now  they  have  come  to  the 
front.  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  the  first  provisional  president, 
and  General  Li,  commander  in  chief  of  the  army  of  the 
revolution  and  first  provisional  vice  president  of  the  Repub- 
lic, are  among  the  Chinese  Christians  who  have  taken  the 
lead  in  establishing  a  new  government  that  embodies  west- 


THE    WESTERN    INFLUENCE    IN    CHINA  109 

ern  political  ideals.  When  the  Province  of  Fukien  went 
over  to  the  revolutionists,  the  government  was  intrusted 
to  eight  commissions,  the  presidents  of  four  being  Chris- 
tians. The  commissioner  of  education  for  Kwangtung  prov- 
ince is  a  Christian  professor  in  the  Canton  Christian  Col- 
lege. It  has  been  stated  that  three-fourths  of  the  leaders 
of  the  revolution  were  either  Christians  or  favorable  to 
Christianity.  While  not  personally  a  Christian,  President 
Yuan  Shih  Kai  is  favorable  to  Christianity,  has  had  his 
family  educated  in  Christian  schools,  and  took  early  occas- 
ion to  declare  that  the  new  constitution  would  grant  the 
Chinese  freedom  of  religion  and  of  worship.  This  is  included 
in  Article  VI,  Chapter  VI  of  the  provisional  republican  con- 
stitution. 

These  are  some  of  the  results  in  China  of  western  influence. 
We  pass  now  to  consider  more  briefly  the  remaining  points. 

II.  What  Western  Influence  Should  not  Destroy 

No  nation  could  have  gone  calmly  on  its  way  as  China  has 
done  while  Egypt,  Assyria,  Babylon,  Persia,  Greece,  Rome, 
and  all  the  medieval  powers  waxed,  waned  and  disappeared, 
unless  it  possessed  strong  characteristics.  A  nation  that 
has  such  sources  of  strength  must  never  allow  itself  to  be 
deprived  of  them,  and  the  West  must  not  seek  their  destruc- 
tion. 

Note,  for  example,  the  high  ethical  code.  Whatever  may 
be  said  of  the  practical  morality  of  China,  there  is  no  deny- 
ing that  as  a  system  of  ethics  Confucianism  ranks  next  to 
Christianity.  Practically  all  the  Christian  precepts  are 
found  there,  and,  unlike  western  philosophers  who  have 
sought  to  deduce  their  ethical  systems  from  some  abstract 
conception,  Confucius  rested  his  upon  the  relations  which 
each  individual  sustains  to  those  about,  above,  and  below 
him. 

One  of  the  fruits  of  Confucianism  has  been  family  solidar- 
ity. It  is  true  that  this  has  been  carried  to  extremes  to 
the  partial  atrophy  of  initiative  and  of  the  sense  of  personal 
responsibility,  but  this  loyalty  to  ancestors  and  relatives 
is  one  of  the  corner  stones  upon  which  Chinese  civilization 


110  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

has  rested.  With  the  population  pressing  as  it  does  and 
as  it  must  continue  to  do  upon  the  means  of  subsistence 
and  with  the  lack  of  surplus  land,  this  is  an  element  that 
must  be  preserved.  It  would  be  a  calamity  if  the  spirit 
of  extreme  individualism  that  has  been  characteristic  of  the 
West  should  ever  come  to  prevail  in  China. 

Closely  connected  with  this  fact  is  another,  the  ability 
of  the  Chinese  to  cooperate.  While  the  typical  Chinese 
has  difficult}'  in  standing  or  acting  alone,  his  capacity  for 
working  with  his  fellows  means  that  large  undertakings  will 
be  possible  as  soon  as  public  spirit,  absolute  integrity,  and 
enhghtened  leadership  are  to  be  found.  In  family,  social, 
business,  and  religious  affairs  the  Chinese  are  able  to  coop- 
erate effectively.  Note  the  system  of  markets  with  rami- 
fications throughout  the  country,  the  power  of  guilds  in 
commercial  life  and  the  family  solidarity  already  alluded  to, 
if  you  would  understand  this  strong  asset  in  Chinese  char- 
acter. 

The  Chinese,  above  all  other  peoples,  have  honored  schol- 
arship. It  makes  no  difference  that  we  smile  at  the  old 
literati  who  found  themselves  unprepared  to  fit  into  modern 
China.  The  fact  is  that  China  accorded  its  highest  honors 
only  to  the  men  who  had  proved  by  competitive  examination 
that  they  were  possessed  of  the  best  education  that  China 
could  furnish.  Change  the  type  of  training  required,  but 
preserve  irrevocably  the  principle  that  only  properly  trained 
and  prepared  men  should  occupy  public  office,  and  China 
will  have  a  civil  service  that  cannot  be  excelled. 

Finally,  there  is  one  element  in  the  political  genius  of 
China  that  should  never  be  superseded.  The  absolutism 
is  doomed,  but  the  democratic  basis,  which  meant  that  local 
officials  were  practically  chosen  by  the  local  communities, 
and  that  each  district  was  governed  in  a  maimer  suited  to 
its  genius  and  its  conditions,  is  that  upon  which  alone  an 
enduring  republic  can  be  built. 

The  patient  industry  of  the  people,  their  uncomplaining 
endurance  of  conditions  that  are  inevitable,  their  tenacity 
in  holding  to  that  which  has  proved  itself  useful,  their 
ability  to  assimilate  extraneous  elements,  and  their  recently 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE    IN   CHINA  111 

demonstrated  ability  to  adopt  and  adapt  new  methods,  are 
other  elements  of  Chinese  character  that  should  not  be 
destroyed. 

III.  Where  China  Can  Learn  from  the  West 

While  China  has  important  elements  that  should  be  pre- 
served at  all  hazards  and  can  teach  the  West  many  a  lesson 
of  importance,  it  is  equally  true  that  in  many  points  China 
can  learn  from  the  West. 

It  is  necessary  that  the  individual  should  count  for  more 
in  the  new  China.  We  of  the  West  have  cultivated  the 
individual  and  have  lost  much  of  family  and  community 
solidarity.  China,  on  the  other  hand,  has  so  developed 
corporate  responsibility  as  to  sacrifice  the  individual.  Take 
this  instance:  A  man  and  his  wife  committed  the  awful 
crime  of  flogging  the  man's  mother.  The  result:  the  pair, 
flayed  alive;  the  grand  uncle,  uncle,  two  elder  brothers  and 
the  head  of  the  clan,  executed;  the  neighbors,  the  woman's 
father,  the  head  representative  of  the  literary  degree  held 
by  the  man,  flogged  and  banished;  the  prefect  and  district 
ruler,  degraded ;  and  the  child  of  the  criminals,  given  another 
name.  The  patriarchal  family  keeps  the  sons  in  tutelage 
until  they  have  lost  initiative.  The  man  of  ability,  by 
the  help  of  his  family,  may  rise,  but  the  ordinary  individual 
counts  for  little,  and  hundreds  are  permitted  to  perish  on 
public  works  or  in  time  of  famine  and  flood  without  compunc- 
tion. Slavery  has  prevailed  among  farm  laborers  and  the 
sale  of  women  and  girls  has  excited  no  comment,  especially 
during  famines.  Here  is  a  point  where  Chinese  customs 
may  be  wisely  modified  in  western  directions.  Education 
has  been  provided  for  an  increasing  number  of  boys  and 
girls.  This  must  continue  until  all  the  people  of  China 
are  made  literate  and  increasingly  intelligent.  This  applies 
to  the  women  as  well  as  to  the  men.  Other  needs  are  the 
actual  abolition  of  slavery  and  such  modification  of  the 
family  system  as  shall  develop  in  the  child  progressiveness, 
adaptability  and  efficiency.  China  has  proved  that  it  is 
easier  to  issue  reform  decrees  than  it  is  to  secure  radical 


112  EDWARD    W.    CAPEN 

social  or  political  changes.  This  can  gradually  be  overcome 
throiigli  increased  education  and  the  giving  of  opportunity 
to  individuals. 

On  the  political  side,  China  needs  more  public  spirit  and 
more  nationaUsm,  in  contrast  to  provincialism.  Very  en- 
couraging signs  of  this  are  appearing.  Many  of  the  reform 
party  have  exhibited  just  this  spirit,  but  the  rank  and  file  of 
office  holders  have  not  yet  risen  to  this  point.  The  gradual 
and  often  rapid  deterioration  in  public  works,  such  as  roads, 
canals,  and  even  railways,  not  to  mention  temples  and 
other  pubhc  buildings,  is  due  to  a  lack  of  public  spirit  that 
bodes  ill  for  the  future.  The  Chinese  desire  to  be  let  alone 
and  not  be  be  called  upon  to  sacrifice  much  even  for  the 
general  good.  The  same  spirit  carried  into  another  realm 
leads  to  provincialism.  The  Manchus  rigidly  enforced  the 
rule  that  an  official  should  never  serve  in  his  native  province. 
This  was  done  to  lessen  the  possibilties  of  disintegration — 
and  of  graft,  also, — that  might  result  from  an  official's  being 
among  his  own  people.  The  reported  repeal  of  this  rule 
by  the  new  government  raises  the  question  as  to  whether 
the  national  spirit  among  the  officials  as  a  body  is  yet  strong 
enough  to  justify  this  change. 

Closely  allied  to  this  need  is  that  of  strengthening  the 
central  government.  The  late  government  made  an  earnest 
effort  to  stop  the  use  of  opium,  which  was  weakening  the 
country.  As  a  part  of  this  campaign  it  attempted  to  sup- 
press the  cultivation  of  the  poppy.  Its  success  in  this 
endeavor  far  surpassed  all  expectations.  With  a  change  in 
government,  however,  and  the  weakening  of  control  from 
Peking,  has  come  a  serious  reaction,  and  fields  have  again 
blazed  with  the  poppy  where  last  year  wheat  was  growing. 
The  reform  of  the  currency,  an  imperative  need  if  China  is 
to  become  a  great  commercial  nation,  is  hindered  by  pro- 
vincial jealousies  and  especially  by  the  possibilities  of  graft 
and  squeeze  that  the  antiquated  system,  or  lack  of  system, 
puts  within  the  grasp  of  provincial  officials.  Railway  con- 
struction is  halted  by  provincial  jealousy.  The  rivers  are 
becoming  a  source  of  constantly  increasing  danger,  and  the 
canals  are  becoming  less  serviceable  because  there  is  no 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE    IN   CHINA  113 

strong  hand  to  insist  upon  repairs.  It  is  feasible  to  control 
the  rivers  and  check  the  awful  destruction  of  life  and  prop- 
erty which  now  recurs  at  ever  shorter  intervals,  but  it 
needs  an  efficient  central  government  to  do  it. 

Again,  China  needs  a  civil  service  equal  to  that  of  Great 
Britain  at  home  and  in  her  colonies,  or  even  as  good  as  that 
of  the  United  States,  imperfect  as  that  is.  Under  the  old 
system,  graft  was  all  but  universal.  Offices  were  bought 
and  the  officials  were  expected  to  live  on  impossible  salaries 
with  the  understanding  that  all  deficiencies  could  be  wrung 
from  the  people  or  taken  from  the  taxes  at  the  expense  of 
the  central  government.  One  of  the  chief  causes  of  the 
revolution  was  this  official  corruption,  but  the  habit  of 
squeeze  is  so  ingrained  in  the  Chinese  that  it  will  be  a  hard 
struggle  to  raise  the  tone  of  the  civil  service  to  where  it 
must  be  if  China  is  to  secure  the  funds  she  needs  for  her 
development.  It  is  not  only  incorruptible  officials  that  are 
needed,  but  also  efficient  men  who  can  execute  as  well  as 
plan.  The  weakness  of  the  new  system  of  education  has 
been  the  impossibihty  of  securing  a  sufficient  number  of 
well-trained  teachers  to  man  the  schools.  China  must  learn 
that  adequate  results  cannot  be  secured  from  the  expendi- 
ture of  adequate  funds,  unless  these  are  administered  by 
well  trained  men.  One  of  the  encouraging  things  about 
the  new  regime  is  the  appointment  of  competent  foreign 
advisers,  men  who  know  the  needs  of  the  country,  under- 
stand the  difficulties  of  the  problem  and  bring  to  bear  upon 
its  solution  the  results  of  generations  of  western  experience. 

Most  important  of  all,  China  must  be  willing  to  learn 
and  adopt  what  is  best  in  western  experience  and  civiliza- 
tion. The  Chinese  has  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  his 
nation;  no  person  in  the  world  more  so.  The  Chinese  has 
every  reason  to  feel  sensitive  because  of  the  treatment 
accorded  by  other  nations;  treatment  that  no  self-respecting 
nation  could  fail  to  resent.  But  the  Chinese  must  recog- 
nize, as  the  new  leaders  willingly  do,  that  times  have  changed 
and  that  if  China  is  to  assume  the  place  that  is  hers  by  right 
of  history  and  inherent  and  demonstrated  capacity,  she 
must  willingly  learn  from  her  younger  but  more  aggressive 


114  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

rivals  of  the  West.  And  when  she  seeks  to  learn  from  us, 
she  must  be  quick  to  discern  the  things  of  real  value.  I 
have  seen  in  Chinese  schools  most  elaborate  collections  of 
scientific  apparatus,  larger  than  most  American  schools  can 
boast,  but  they  were  useless  because  the  teachers  could  not 
use  them  to  advantage.  Railwaj^s,  factories,  schools,  west- 
ernized political  institutions  are  necessary  and  good,  but 
the  Japanese  have  learned  to  their  sorrow  that  the  material 
elements  of  civilization  are  not  enough,  and  they  are  now 
seeking  to  discover  the  secret  of  true  greatness  and  per- 
manence. China  bids  fair  to  be  spared  some  of  this  disil- 
lusionment because  so  many  of  the  leaders  have  adopted  the 
very  heart  of  western  civilization  in  its  ethical  aspects,  and 
have  grafted  it  upon  the  old  but  rather  fruitless  stock  of 
Confucian  civilization. 

This  leads  naturally  to  the  last  point. 

IV.  How  THE  West  Can  be  Most  Helpful 

The  most  fundamental  thing  is  this.  The .  West  must 
be  wilUng  to  treat  China  as  an  equal  just  as  rapidly  as  she 
demonstrates  her  worthiness  of  such  treatment.  The  atti- 
tude of  the  Chinese  up  to  within  a  generation  was  one  of 
proud  superciliousness.  The  government  regarded  all  the 
rest  of  the  world  as  barbarians.  It  was  even  claimed  that 
what  civihzation  the  West  possessed  was  derived  from  China. 
The  West  resented  this  attitude,  and  rightly  so,  and  com- 
pelled China,  at  the  mouth  of  the  canon,  to  change,  and 
then  the  western  nations  adopted  a  somewhat  similar  atti- 
tude. They  forced  China  to  open  her  ports,  prescribed 
her  customs  duties,  secured  foreign  supervision  of  the  cus- 
toms, insisted  that  coast  and  inland  trade  might  be  carried 
on  by  vessels  flying  foreign  flags,  boldly  plotted  the  dis- 
memberment of  the  empire,  and  even  now  in  certain  quar- 
ters are  seeking  to  prevent  China  from  strengthening  her 
control  of  her  outlying  territory.  The  pathetic  thing  is 
that  many  of  these  acts  were  really  in  the  interest  of  China. 
Nor  is  that  all.  The  western  people  have  thought  China  a 
good  field  for  exploitation  and  in  matters  of  concessions  have 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE   IN   CHINA  115 

not  always  played  fair.  The  Chinese  have  been  excluded 
from  our  country  and  maltreated  here  and  elsewhere.  The 
Chinese  coohe  trade  while  it  lasted  was  only  an  improvement 
upon  the  old  African  slave  trade.  The  white  man  almost 
unconsciously  and  automatically  assumes  an  attitude  of 
proud  superiority  to  the  Chinese  in  China  or  the  West.  A 
good  expression  of  what  many  persons  feel  was  the  address 
from  President  Tyler  to  the  Emperor  of  China,  written  in 
1843,  which  was  so  patronizing  in  its  tone  that  an  American 
can  hardly  read  it  now  without  blushing  for  the  honor  of 
his  country.  As  the  people  and  nations  of  the  West  have 
come  to  know  the  Chinese  better,  their  attitude  has  improved, 
but  yet  there  is  enough  left  to  make  difficult  the  most  cor- 
dial relations  between  China  and  her  western  sisters,  and 
this  lack  of  cordiality  detracts  from  the  influence  that  the 
West  might  easily  wield.  Especially  in  these  days,  when 
the  new  government  is  gradually  but  successfully  solving 
the  almost  insoluble  problems  which  confronted  it,  it  is  time 
to  give  tangible  evidence  of  a  sympathy  with  the  efforts 
of  the  Chinese  to  prepare  themselves  for  entrance  as  self- 
respecting  partners  into  the  family  of  nations.  The  threat 
of  territorial  aggrandizement,  the  insistence  upon  very  oner- 
ous conditions  in  financial  transactions,  make  the  task  of 
China  almost  unbearably  hard.  It  almost  forces  her  to 
devote  to  military  purposes  a  large  sum  of  money,  every 
cent  of  which  is  needed  for  education,  the  improvement  of 
roads  and  waterways,  the  building  of  railways,  the  develop- 
ment of  resources,  and  the  improvement  of  administration. 
The  powers  should  do  more  than  merely  cease  their  threats. 
One  of  the  inducements  for  Japan  to  improve  its  civil  and 
judicial  administration  was  the  desire  to  get  into  a  position 
where  it  might  properly  demand  that  the  foreign  powers 
abandon  the  right  of  extra-territoriality.  It  was  a  proud 
day  for  Japan  when  it  ceased  to  be  an  inferior  state  like  Tur- 
key, and  could  look  the  whole  world  in  the  face  as  a  recog- 
nized equal  of  the  western  powers.  The  Chinese  are  like- 
wise affronted  by  the  fact  that  they  have  no  jurisdiction 
over  foreigners.  No  one  can  blame  the  powers  for  being 
unwilling  to  intrust  their  people  to  the  old  corrupt  courts 


116  EDWARD   W.    CAPEN 

of  China,  with  their  barbarous  penalties,  their  torture,  and 
the  hke.  Just  as  soon,  however,  as  China  has  proved  her 
willingness  and  her  ability  to  secure  justice  for  all  resident 
within  her  borders,  then  the  powers  should  reheve  China 
from  wearing  the  badge  of  inferiority.  A  similar  position 
should  be  taken  with  regard  to  foreign  supervision  of  revenue 
and  expenditure.  A  certain  amount  of  supervision  is  proba- 
bly necessary  for  the  sake  of  China  itself,  but  it  should 
be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  should  disappear  as  rapidly 
as  is  compatible  with  safety. 

Another  way  in  which  western  influence  may  be  made 
more  helpful  is  by  improving  the  example  that  the  western 
nations  set  China  and  the  way  in  which  the  Chinese  are 
received  and  treated  in  the  West.  Our  civilization  is  often 
brought  into  disrepute  by  its  toleration  of  elements  that 
are  anything  but  praiseworthy.  Many  a  foreigner,  includ- 
ing Chinese,  has  visited  this  country,  seen  the  darker  side 
of  our  ci\'ihzation,  and  either  been  corrupted  or  disgusted 
thereby.  Such  a  man  returns  to  decry  the  boasted  supe- 
riority of  the  West  or  to  exert  a  positively  evil  influence. 
Aggressive  and  successful  efforts  to  remove  the  moral  and 
social  blots  upon  our  western  civilization  will  do  much  to 
commend  it  to  others.  If  Chinese  residents  and  visitors 
are  treated  in  a  just  and  brotherly  manner  and  are  given  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  best  sides  of  our  western  hfe,  it 
will  do  much  to  commend  western  civiUzation  to  the  Chi- 
nese and  will  furnish  both  incentive  and  direction  for  improv- 
ing the  conditions  in  China. 

The  West  can  also  assist  China  by  enlarging  the  educa- 
tional, medical,  and  philanthropic  activities  conducted  by 
Christian  agencies  in  that  country.  While  the  new  gov- 
ernment and  the  people,  moved  by  the  spirit  of  the  new  era, 
will  do  much  along  these  Unes,  these  are  points  at  which 
the  people  of  the  West  can  give  material  assistance.  Expe- 
rience elsewhere  proves  the  value  even  to  goverimient 
education  of  the  presence  and  the  competition  of  efficient, 
well-staffed  and  equipped  Christian  schools,  which  can 
accomplish  more  in  the  way  of  character  building  than  is 
possible  in  government  schools.     They  can  train   leaders, 


THE   WESTERN   INFLUENCE   IN   CHINA  117 

whether  avowed  Christians  or  not,  who  can  contribute  an 
element  of  upright,  disinterested  and  self-sacrificing  service 
that  the  secular  institution  finds  it  more  difficult  to  secure. 
By  using  a  certain  number  of  western  teachers,  they  can  give 
the  students  a  sanity  and  breadth  of  view  and  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  difficulty  and  slowness  of  social  development, 
that  is  next  to  impossible  in  a  school  none  of  the  staff  of 
which  have  a  background  of  centuries  of  struggle  with  just 
these  problems.  This  means  that  the  Christian  forces  should 
deliberately  direct  their  energies  to  the  training,  not  only 
of  distinctly  religious  workers,  but  also  of  Christian  leaders 
in  the  industrial,  commercial,  yes,  and  the  political  life 
of  the  new  China.  There  is  a  chance,  also,  by  sending  out 
more  doctors  to  assist  the  small  but  increasing  number  of 
well  trained  Chinese  physicians,  who  for  many  years  will 
be  unable  to  overtake  the  physical  needs  of  400,000,000 
people  living  under  poor  sanitary  conditions.  Then,  too, 
the  Christian  physician  can  minister  to  the  mental  and  spir- 
itual needs  of  these  people  and  bring  to  them  a  comfort 
and  inspiration  that  is  beyond  the  power  of  the  non-Chris- 
tian doctor,  however  competent  he  may  be  professionally. 
In  the  realm  of  Christian  philanthropy  there  is  a  further 
opportunity.  The  call  upon  the  spirit  of  brotherUness  that 
arises  from  the  poverty  and  squalor  of  millions  of  Chinese 
homes  in  thousands  of  villages  is  beyond  the  power  of  the 
present  generation  to  meet.  Experience  in  India  and  Japan 
abundantly  testifies  to  the  fact  that  while  the  non-Christian 
can  imitate  the  activities  that  have  been  developed  in  the 
West  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Christian  religion,  there 
is  a  flavor,  an  atmosphere  about  the  Christian  orphanage, 
asylum,  or  settlement  that  is  pecuUarly  its  own,  and  that 
gives  it  a  success  beyond  the  reach  of  the  non-Christian. 
A  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits,  but  we  have  not  yet  learned 
to  produce  the  fruit  apart  from  the  tree. 

This  leads  naturally  to  the  declaration  of  my  belief  that 
one  of  the  greatest  services  the  West  can  render  to  the  new 
China  is  by  the  more  vigorous  effort  to  develop  a  self-sup- 
porting and  self-directing  Chinese  church.  It  has  already 
been  noted  that  a  goodly  proportion  of  the  leaders  of  the 


118  EDWARD   W,    CAPEN 

revolution  in  China  are  Christians  and  those  who  have 
ailojited  Christian  ideals.  They  are  seeking  to  make  China 
a  more  rigliteous  as  well  as  a  more  powerful  nation.  The 
difficulty  with  China  has  not  been  the  lack  of  a  high  ethical 
code.  China  has  been  weak,  among  other  reasons,  because 
of  the  lack  of  a  moral  dynamic  to  make  those  ideals  realiz- 
able. A  century  of  Christian  work  in  China  has  proved 
beyond  a  doubt  that  Christianity  can  furnish  this  dynamic. 
It  has  changed  the  lives  of  thousands  and  sent  them  forth 
to  serve  their  fellow  countrymen.  China  needs  many  things. 
Without  industrial  development,  without  political  reform, 
without  a  more  general  spread  of  education,  the  dreams  of 
the  new  China  cannot  become  actual.  Nevertheless,  if 
China  gets  or  is  given  these  things  but  fails  to  secure  this 
new  ethical  power,  they  will  count  for  Httle,  as  Japanese 
leaders  are  now  coming  to  realize.  It  is  at  this  point  that 
the  Christian  West  can  make  its  most  valuable  contribu- 
tion to  the  life  of  China  and  through  it  to  the  life  of  the  world. 
The  doors  are  open  now;  they  may  later  be  closed. 

We  have  thus  sketched  the  part  that  western  influence 
has  played  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  radical  changes  that 
have  occurred  in  China  within  a  twelvemonth.  We  have 
noted  some  of  the  outstanding  points  of  strength  and  of 
weakness  in  the  Chinese  people  and  some  of  the  specific 
ways  in  which  the  West  can  be  most  helpful  to  the  new 
China.  It  is  all  summed  up  in  this:  China  needs  the  help 
of  a  good  example  and  of  a  spirit  of  brotherly  assistance, 
especially  along  ethical  lines,  as  she  is  seeking  to  adapt  her 
ancient  Confucian  civilization  to  the  new  environment  into 
which  she  finds  herself  plunged,  against  her  own  wishes;  to 
the  end  that  the  most  populous  as  well  as  the  oldest  nation 
may  have  her  share  in  the  unified  development  of  the  human 
race  as  it  struggles  towards  the  ideal  of  perfect  self-reaUza- 
tion  through  a  life  of  achievement  and  service. 


CHINA'S   LOAN   NEGOTIATIONS 

By  Hon.   Willard  Straight,  Representative  of  the  American 
Banking  Group 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  explain,  if  possible,  three 
things:  (1)  the  significance  of.  Chinese  loans;  (2)  the  impor- 
tance of  securing  and  retaining  an  American  interest  therein, 
^and  (3),  the  peculiar  difficulties  encountered  in  the  recent 
loan  negotiations. 

Dr.  Arthur  H.  Smith,  in  that  able  and  interesting  work, 
Chinese  Characteristics,  pointed  out  that  those  who,  under- 
standing the  vernacular,  walk  in  China's  streets  will  hear  the 
passersby  talk  of  Uttle  save  money.  As  it  has  been  with  the 
daily  life  of  the  people  so  it  is  today  with  the  political  life  of 
the  nation.  The  question  of  money  is  all  important.  For 
the  last  ten  years,  and  especially  in  the  past  twelve  months 
which  witnessed  China's  wonderful  transformation  from  the 
oldest  empire  to  the  youngest  republic  in  the  world,  there 
has  been  an  incessant  discussion  of  Chinese  loans. 

China's^  loan  history  may  be  divided  into  four  periods: 

The  first,  immediately  after  the  Chino-Japan  War — ^when 
funds  were  secured  from  abroad  to  pay  the  indemnity  exacted 
by  Japan  at  its  conclusion. 

The  second,  following  the  so-called  ''leasing  years"  when 
the  great  powers  encouraged  their  bankers  to  finance  railway 
construction  in  the  regions  which  they  had  marked  out  as 
their  spheres  of  special  interest,  and  when  besides  acting  as 
the  politico-financial  agents  of  their  governments,  these 
bankers  secured  for  the  industry  of  their  respective  coun- 
tries the  orders  for  the  materials  required. 

The  third,  following  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  when  likin 
was  pledged  as  security  for  loans  and  when  a  combination  to 

119 


120  WILLARD    STRAIGHT 

which  the  American  group  was  later  admitted  was  formed  by 
British,  German  and  French  financiers  for  undertaking 
Chinese  loans,  and  for  sharing  the  orders  for  materials 
required  for  their  construction. 

The  fourth,  and  present  period,  in  which  a  combination  has 
been  effected  between  the  four  groups  named  above  and 
Russian  and  Japanese  interests,  for  jointly  financing  the 
reorganization  of  the  Chinese  government. 

American  bankers  were  first  interested  in  Chinese  finance 
in  the  second  period,  in  the  Hankow-Canton  Railroad;  for 
business,  not  for  politics.  Their  rights  were  sold  back  to 
China  who  financed  the  repurchase  by  a  loan  obtained  from 
the  government  of  Hongkong,  which  thus  for  obvious  politi- 
cal, because  geographical,  reasons,  secured  for  British  inter- 
ests a  preferential  right  to  finance  the  construction  of  this 
road  in  case  foreign  capital  should  later  be  required. 

During  the  third  period  the  American  group  was  organ- 
ized and  became  associated  with  the  British,  German  and 
French  banking  groups.  The  American  group,  moreover, 
greatly  contributed  to  the  successful  formation  of  the  com- 
bination which  marks  the  fourth  period,  a  combination  which 
is  the  financial  expression  of  John  Hay's  "Open  Door"  policy, 
and  which  makes  of  international  finance  a  guarantee  for  the 
preservation,  rather  than  an  instrument  for  the  destruction, 
of  China's  integrity. 

Before  discussing  the  most  recent  phase  of  China's  loan 
negotiations  however,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  Ameri- 
can group  at  the  instance  of  the  Department  of  State  made 
its  entry  into  this  field,  it  is  necessary  briefly  to  review  the 
history  of  the  past  few  years,  and  to  consider  the  factors  in 
the  creation  of  what  has  been  called  "Dollar  Diplomacy." 

Because  of  this  so-called  "Dollar  Diplomacy,"  President 
Taft,  and  his  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Knox,  have  been  sub- 
jected to  no  small  measure  of  criticism.  The  administration 
one  hears  has  formed  an  unholy  alliance  with  the  Octopus; 
and  Wall  Street,  the  property  scape-goat  of  our  national 
political  drama,  is  accused  of  seducing  a  reluctant  and  hith- 
erto well-domesticated  government  into  the  maelstrom  of 
international  financial  adventure. 


china's  loan  negotiations  121 

As  if  this  were  not  sufficient,  sober  and  intelligent  journals 
have  demanded  why  American  capital  should  seek  foreign 
fields  when  there  is  so  much  work  to  be  done  at  home. 
Others  admitting  the  desirabiUty  of  foreign  investment  and 
the  possible  necessity  of  diplomatic  support  for  those  who 
undertake  it,  have  objected  to  the  administration's  assist- 
ing certain  institutions  in  Wall  Street  instead  of  American 
bankers  in  general.  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  the  success  of  any  association  of  American  capitalists 
undertaking  this  business  depends  primarily  on  their  being 
of  such  standing  as  command  respect  from  financial  groups 
abroad  and  upon  their  willingness  and  ability  to  bear  the 
expense  of  representation  through  tedious  and  too  often 
unremunerative  negotiations.  Without  these  qualifications 
American  bankers  are  not  equipped  to  become  the  instru- 
ments which  our  government  requires  to  assist  in  the  exten- 
sion of  our  foreign  trade. 

Another  section  of  the  press  hails  each  and  every  over- 
sea venture  with  indiscriminate  enthusiasm  and  rhetorically 
preens  the  feathers  of  the  Bird  of  Freedom,  sneering  at  or 
condemning  our  rivals,  and  lauding  American  enterprise  with 
an  impartial  disregard  of  the  real  facts. 

There  has  been  too  much  unjust  criticism,  too  much 
unwarranted  praise,  and  too  general  a  lack  of  candid  exposi- 
tion and  intelligent  comprehension  of  the  reasons  for,  and 
possibilities  of,  ''Dollar  Diplomacy." 

"Dollar  Diplomacy"  is  a  logical  manifestation  of  our 
national  growth,  and  the  rightful  assumption  by  the  United 
StatesjDf  a  more  important  place  at  the  council  table  of 
nations.  Our  export  trade  is  constantly  increasing  and 
foreign  markets  are  becoming  each  year  more  and  more 
necessary  to  our  manufacturers.  The  new  policy  aims  not 
only  to  protect  those  Americans  already  engaged  in  foreign 
trade  but  to  promote  fresh  endeavor  and  by  diplomatic 
action  pave  the  way  for  those  who  have  not  yet  been,  but  who 
will  later  be,  obliged  to  sell  either  capital  or  goods  abroad. 

European  diplomacy  is  engaged  in  solving  a  maze  of  com- 
plicated questions  immediately  political,  ultimately  commer- 
cial in  character.     France,  Germany,  Russia,  Italy,  Austria 


122  WILLARD   STRAIGHT 

and  Japan  are  endeavoring  to  acquire  fresh  fields  for  coloni- 
zation or  to  create  preferential  markets  for  their  merchants. 
Great  Britain  with  her  world-wide  possessions  is  involved 
directly  or  indirectly,  in  almost  every  international  question 
that  arises  and  with  these  powers  too,  diplomacy  has  for 
years  been  of  the  ''Dollar"  variety. 

International  rivalry  of  this  character,  however,  is  found 
only  in  those  countries  whose  native  administrations  are 
either  decrepit  or  which  are  still  militarily  too  weak  to  secure 
that  consideration,  which,  unfortunately,  depends  not  upon 
international  equity,  but  upon  the  power  of  self-protection. 
In  such  lands  a  government  desiring  to  secure  a  market  for 
its  nationals  must  because  of  the  pressure  of  its  competitors 
either  acquire  territory  or  insist  on  an  equality  of  commercial 
opportunity.  It  must  either  stake  out  its  own  claim,  or 
induce  other  interested  powers  to  preserve  the  "open  door." 
There  is  no  middle  course.  This  is  a  statement  not  of 
benevolent  theories,  but  of  political  facts. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  do  not  desire  fresh  terri- 
tory over  seas.  The  policy  of  our  government  has  been 
to  secure  for  American  merchants  the  "open  door."  Ameri- 
can industry  has  until  recently  been  too  much  engaged  by  our 
own  domestic  expansion  seriously  to  set  about  the  establish- 
ment of  foreign  markets.  A  far-seeing  administration  has 
therefore  inaugurated  a  new  policy,  the  alliance  of  diplomacy, 
with  industry,  commerce  and  finance. 

This  is  "Dollar  Diplomacy."  It  has  been  active  in  vari- 
ous ways.  In  South  America  it  has  aided  our  merchants 
and  manufacturers.  In  Central  America,  poUtics  have 
played  a  more  important  part,  and  the  Department  of  State 
has  attempted  to  bring  about  financial  reform  in  these 
smaller  republics,  and  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  the 
revolutions  whose  leaders  have  almost  without  exception 
been  actuated  solely  by  a  desire  to  acquire  control  of  the 
national  revenues.  In  China  certain  very  tangible  results 
have  been  accomplished  and  it  is  to  give  a  more  accurate 
conception  of  this  much  discussed,  but  little  understood 
subject,  that  this  paper  is  written. 


china's  loan  negotiations  123 

Prior  to  1894,  China  had  practically  no  foreign  debt.  In 
1894-1896,  however,  she  borrowed  extensively  from  England, 
France  and  Germany,  to  finance  the  war  with  Japan,  and  to 
provide  the  indemnity  which  she  was  forced  to  pay  at  its 
conclusion.  These  loans  were  secured  upon  the  collections 
of  the  Imperial  Maritime  Customs,  a  Chinese  service  under 
the  control  of  that  able  Irishman,  Sir  Robert  Hart.  In  1898, 
however,  China  made  a  number  of  contracts  for  loans  for 
railway  construction,  with  British,  German,  French,  Belgian 
and  American  syndicates.  Under  all  these  agreements  the 
bankers  were  entitled  to  a  certain  share  in  the  profits  of  the 
lines,  which  were  themselves  to  be  mortgaged  as  security 
for  the  loans,  and  provision  was  made  in  almost  every  case 
for  joint  foreign  and  Chinese  management.  The  railway 
materials  and  rolling  stock  required  were  purchased  from  the 
manufacturers  of  the  countries  whose  bankers  undertook  to 
issue  these  loans. 

The  cession  of  Formosa  to  Japan  at  the  termination  of  the 
Chino-Japanese  War,  the  occupation  of  Chinese  territory  by 
Russia,  Germany,  France  and  England,  in  1897-1898  and 
the  exchange  of  "diplomatic  notes"  between  these  powers 
regarding  the  protection  of  their  respective  interests  in 
China,  together  with  the  signature  of  the  railway  agreements 
mentioned  gave  rise  to  a  discussion  throughout  the  Euro- 
pean and  American  press  of  the  imminent  breakup  of  China 
and  the  partition  of  this  ancient  empire  into  '^  spheres  of 
influence." 

In  China  the  broad  significance  of  these  events  was  prob- 
ably appreciated  by  but  few,  even  of  the  leading  statesmen 
of  the  time,  but  these  men,  nevertheless,  and  the  gentry  and 
official  classes  throughout  the  provinces  felt  that  their  coun- 
try was  becoming  dominated  by  the  foreigner.  Seaports 
had  been  wrested  from  them,  and,  not  content  with  this,  the 
strangers  were  binding  their  helpless  motherland  with  rails 
of  steel. 

For  some  years  prior  to  1898,  the  Empress  Dowager  had 
been  in  comparative  retirement.  The  attempt  of  the  young 
Emperor,  Kuang  Hsii,  however,  under  the  advice  of  Kang 
Yu  Wei,  suddenly  to  introduce  widespread  reform,  brought 


124  WILLARD   STRAIGHT 

this  redoubtable  lady  to  the  front  once  more.  Popular 
discontent,  fomented  by  bigoted  and  ignorant  officials 
was  winked  at  if  not  encouraged  by  a  court  which  feared 
that  the  extension  of  western  influence  might  bring  about 
administrative  changes  which  would  curtail  their  opportuni- 
ties for  illicit  gain.  The  Boxer  outbreak  was  the  result,  and 
in  1900  the  reactionaries  made  one  last  attempt  to  sweep 
the  foreigner  into  the  sea.  Peking  was  occupied  by  the 
allied  troops,  the  Manchu  court  fled  to  Sianfu,  and  China 
was  saddled  with  a  fresh  debt  of  about  £60,000,000  to  pay 
for  her  mid-summer  madness.  This  was  charged  upon  the 
IMaritime  Customs,  upon  certain  likin  collectorates  and 
upon  the  salt  gabelle. 

In  1898-1899  the  American  Secretary  of  State,  John  Hay, 
anxious  to  prevent  the  partition  of  China  and  to  protect  the 
interests  of  general  foreign  trade  against  discrimination  in 
the  portions  of  Chinese  territory  already  occupied  by  foreign 
powers,  enunciated  his  "Open  Door"  policy.  His  proposi- 
tion, favorably  received  at  first  and  reaffirmed  in  the  negoti- 
ations which  followed  the  relief  of  Peking,  won  the  adherence 
of  other  nations  not  because  of  any  particular  consideration 
for  China  but  because  of  their  mutual  jealousy  and  their 
realization  that  partition  would  impose  upon  them  responsi- 
bilities which  they  might  find  it  difficult  to  bear. 

They  did  not  therefore  surrender  the  ports  which  they  had 
forcibly  leased,  but  their  acceptance  of  the  "Open  Door" 
doctrine  nevertheless  marked  the  beginning  of  a  financial 
and  commercial,  rather  than  territorial,  definition  of  their 
respective  interests.  The  Russo-Chinese  Bank  had  been 
created  in  1895  as  the  chief  instrument  of  Russian  ambition 
in  her  Manchurian  adventure.  This  institution  and  the 
Hongkong  and  Shanghai  Bank,  the  Deutsch-Asiatische 
Bank,  the  Banque  de  Tlndo-Chine  and  the  Yokohama  Specie 
Bank,  now  became  more  and  more  generally  recognized  as 
indispensable  financial  means  to  the  political  and  commercial 
ends  of  their  respective  governments. 

In  contrast  to  the  peaceful  rivalry  in  China  proper,  the 
situation  in  Manchuria  became  more  and  more  threatening. 
Russia  despite  her  diplomatic  assurances  to  the  contrary 


china's  loan  negotiations  125 

did  not  evacuate  this  region  occupied  after  the  Boxer  trouble. 
She  persisted  moreover  in  an  attempt  to  acquire  control  over 
northern  Korea  as  well,  until  Japan,  avowedly  the  cham- 
pion of  China's  integrity  and  the  "Open  Door"  for  the  trade 
of  all  nations,  declared  war. 

Relieved  by  the  defeat  of  Russia  Peking  breathed  more 
easily.  This  satisfaction,  however,  was  short  lived,  for  the 
Chinese  soon  became  convinced  that  Japan  not  unnaturally 
intended  to  reap  for  herself  and  not  assure  to  China,  the 
fruits  of  her  splendid  victory.  She  had  taken  from  Russia 
the  Liaotung  Peninsula,  from  which  she  had  herself  been 
ousted  after  the  China-Japan  War.  More  than  that,  she 
succeeded  to  Russia's  rights  in  the  railway  running  north 
from  Port  Arthur  and  in  the  coal  mines  at  Fushun. 

When  His  Excellency  Yuan  Shih  Kai,  now  President  of 
the  Chinese  Republic,  went  to  Tientsin  as  Viceroy  of  ChihU 
Province,  he  had  with  him  a  number  of  officials,  notably 
Tang  Shao  Yi  and  Liang  Tun  Yen,  who  had  been  recalled 
from  America  in  the  early  80's,  but  who  had  not  after  their 
return  to  China  been  given  much  share  in  the  direction  of 
affairs.  Yuan  soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  what  might 
be  called  a  "Reform"  party,  and  these  subordinates  of  his, 
able,  accomplished  and  well  versed  in  American  and  Euro- 
pean methods  greatly  aided  him  in  instilling  new  force  and 
intelligence  into  the  Peking  government.  Administrative 
reforms  were  demanded,  the  Chinese  press,  hitherto  practi- 
cally non-existent,  began  to  assert  itself,  and  young  men 
educated  abroad  returned  to  direct  a  "rights  recovery" 
agitation  which  soon  developed  anti-Manchu  propaganda  and 
which  found  its  final  expression  in  the  revolution  of  last  year. 

Peking  became  concerned  about  Japan's  activity  in  Man- 
churia. Their  Excellencies  Hsii  Shih  Chang  and  Tang 
Shao  Yi  were  sent  to  Mukden  to  estabUsh,  if  possible,  Chi- 
nese authority  throughout  the  Three  Eastern  Provinces,  and 
to  exercise  the  right  to  develop  this  region  under  Chinese  aus- 
pices, assured  by  the  Portsmouth  Treaty  and  the  so-called 
Komura  Convention,  signed  between  China  and  Japan  in 
the  autumn  of  1905. 

They  had  no  intention  of  interfering  with  the  treaty  rights 
acquired  by  Japan,  but  they  wished,  if  possible,  to  induce 


126  WILL.^.RD    STRAIGHT 

British,  German,  French  and  American  capitalists  to  invest 
in  the  development  of  this  region. 

In  the  autumn  of  1907,  Lord  ffrench,  representing  Messrs. 
Pauhng  and  Company,  the  well  known  firm  of  English  con- 
tractors signed  with  the  iManchurian  Viceroy  a  contract  for 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  Hsinmintun  a  point  on 
the  Peking-Mukden  Railway,  to  Fakumen,  with  the  ulti- 
mate object  of  extending  this  line  north  to  Tsitsihar  on  the 
Chinese  Eastern  Railway.  Japan  protested  on  the  ground 
that  the  construction  of  such  a  road  would  violate  the  pro- 
visions of  the  secret  protocol  attached  to  the  Komura  Con- 
vention, stipulating  that  China  should  build  no  railway 
parallel  to  or  competing  with,  the  South  Manchurian  Road. 

Subsequently  in  the  summer  of  1908,  His  Excellency  Tang 
Shao  Yi  signed  a  Memorandum  of  Agreement  for  a  loan  of 
$20,000,000,  to  be  undertaken  by  American  capitahsts  for 
the  establishment  of  a  bank  which  was  to  act  as  the  financial 
agent  of  the  Manchurian  administration  for  development 
work.  This  marked  the  beginning  of  the  negotiations  which 
led  to  the  organization  of  the  American  group,  the  signature 
of  the  Chinchou-Aigun  Railway  loan  agreement,  the  con- 
clusion of  the  currency  loan  and  the  formation  of  the  present 
six-power  group. 

In  Alay,  1908,  Congress  had  approved  President  Roose- 
velt's recoEomendation  that  the  United  States  return  to 
China  a  portion  of  the  Boxer  indemnity.  Senator  Root, 
then  Secretary  of  State,  and  His  Excellency  W.  W.  Rockhill, 
then  American  Minister  to  China,  suggested  that  the  remit- 
ted funds  should  be  expended  in  financing  the  education  of 
Chinese  students  in  the  United  States. 

His  Excellency  Tang  Shao  Yi  was  appointed  Special 
Ambassador,  ostensibly  to  thank  the  American  government 
for  its  generous  action.  His  real  mission  was  to  negotiate 
the  ]\Ianchurian  loan  with  American  bankers.  On  arriving 
in  Washington,  however,  he  advocated  a  much  more  com- 
prehensive scheme.  He  proposed  to  Secretary  Root  that 
China  should  issue  a  loan  of  $300,000,000  to  be  utiUzed  for  a 
program  of  industrial  development,  for  currency  reform,  and 
to  finance  the  Chinese  administration  during  the  period  fol- 


china's  loan  negotiations  127 

lowing  the  intended  abolition  of  likin  and  until  the  consent 
of  all  the  powers  to  an  increase  in  the  customs  tariff  was 
obtained.  Mr.  Tang  desired  an  international  loan  in  which 
he  wished  the  United  States  to  take  the  lead  and  Mr.  Root 
promised  to  support  this  plan.  With  the  authority  of  Mr. 
Root  and  the  sanction  of  President  Roosevelt  the  matter 
was  brought  to  the  attention  of  American  bankers,  but  it  was 
necessary  temporarily  to  abandon  the  project  owing  to  the 
dismissal  of  His  Excellency  Yuan  Shih  Kai  from  the  high 
office  which  he  then  held  in  Peking. 

Following  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Taft,  however,  the 
President  and  Mr.  Knox  became  keenly  interested  and  the 
Department  of  State  desired,  as  soon  as  an  opportune 
moment  should  arise,  to  reopen  the  question  of  customs 
revision  and  likin  abolition,  as  well  as  currency  reform,  in 
accordance  with  the  stipulations  of  our  commercial  treaty 
with  China  of  1903.  With  a  view  to  taking  up  the  proposed 
loan  at  the  proper  time,  the  .American  bankers,  who  have 
been  interested,  closely  followed  the  situation. 

In  May,  1909,  it  became  known  that  the  British,  French 
and  German  financial  groups  were  about  to  conclude  an 
agreement,  to  be  secured  on  provincial  revenues,  for  the 
construction  of  the  Hukuang  Railways,  i.e.,  the  lines  from 
Hankow  into  Szechuan  and  from  Hankow  to  Canton. 

The  Department  of  State  held  the  promise  of  the  Chinese 
government  that  if  any  foreign  money  were  required  for  the 
construction  of  the  Hankow-Szechuan  Line  one-half  should 
be  secured  from  American  and  one-half  from  British  capital- 
ists. The  fact  that  internal  taxes,  upon  whose  abolition  the 
contemplated  increase  of  the  Maritime  Customs  tariff 
depended,  were  being  pledged  as  security  for  the  new  rail- 
way loan,  directly  affected  the  fulfillment  of  the  engage- 
ment which  the  Department  of  State  had  made  to  assist 
China  in  obtaining  from  the  other  powers  their  consent  to 
customs  revision. 

In  order,  therefore,  that  the  United  States  might  be  en- 
titled to  a  practical,  and  not  merely  a  theoretical,  voice  in 
this  matter,  as  well  as  to  assure  to  American  manufacturers 
a  share  in  the  profits  of  Chinese  railway  construction  and  the 


12S  WILLARD    STILVIGHT 

business  arising  therefrom,  it  was  essential  that  representa- 
tive American  capitalists  should  participate  in  the  Hukuang 
loan.  The  Department  of  State  offered  this  opportunity 
to  the  bankers  already  interested  in  the  loan  proposed 
by  ]\Ir.  Tang  Shao  Yi  and  the  American  Group  was  organ-  J 
ized  creating  an  instrument  which  it  was  hoped  might  ' 
enable  the  Administration  not  only  to  further  the  interests 
of  American  trade  but  effectively  to  assist  China  in  obtain- 
ing the  consent  of  the  powers  to  the  customs  revision  she  so 
greatly  desired. 

In  the  autumn  of  1909,  immediately  following  the  organi- 
zation of  the  .American  Group,  a  preliminary  agreement  was 
entered  into  with  the  Viceroy  of  Manchuria,  by  the  American  , 
group  and  Messrs.  Pauling  and  Company,  for  the  construe-  \ 
tion  of  the  Chinchou-Aigun  Railway.  Much  has  been  writ- 
ten regarding  this  subject  and  in  Europe  especially,  our 
government  has  been  criticised  for  the  so-called  Man- 
churian  "Neutralization  Proposals"  advanced  toward  the 
close  of  1909,  and  which  were  poUtely  declined  by  Japan  and 
Russia  at  the  beginning  of  the  following  year.  Although  the 
story  of  the  inception  of  this  project  does  not  perhaps  fall 
directly  within  the  scope  of  this  paper,  it  may  be  well  here 
to  recite  certain  facts  in  connection  therewith  which,  had 
they  been  known,  might  have  given  a  very  different  complex- 
ion to   journalistic  conoment  at  the  time. 

The  scheme  of  bringing  the  Russian  and  Japanese  rail- 
roads in  Manchuria  under  the  control  of  a  great  international 
company  was  first  conceived  by  the  late  Mr.  E.  H.  Harri- 
man,  as  a  factor  necessary  to  the  realization  of  his  dream  of 
creating  a  "round  the  world"  transportation  system. 

At  the  close  of  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  Mr.  Harriman 
visited  the  Far  East.  In  September,  1905,  working  closely 
with  the  Hon.  Lloyd  Griscom,  then  American  Minister 
to  Japan,  he  drew  up  with  the  late  Prince  Ito  and  Count, 
now  Prince,  Katsura  then  Premier  of  Japan,  a  memorandum 
stipulating  that  the  portion  of  the  Chinese  Eastern  R.  R. 
from  Kwangchengtze  to  Port  Arthur  and  Dalny  (now  known 
as  the  South  Manchurian  Railway),  which  had  been  acquired 
by  Japan  from  Russia  under  the  provisions  of  the  Ports- 


china's  loan  negotiations  129 

mouth  Treaty,  should  be  financed  by  an  American  loan 
and  operated  under  joint  Japanese  and  American  direc- 
tion. 

This  project  was  never  realized.  It  was  blocked  by  the 
late  Marquis  Komiu*a,  who  raised  what  appeared  to  be 
insuperable  objections  to  Mr.  Harriman's  plan, 

Mr.  Harriman  however  did  not  give  up  his  idea.  Agents 
of  the  Russian  government  during  1906-1907  proposed  to 
certain  American  bankers  that  they  purchase  from  Russia  the 
portion  of  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway  which  remained  in 
Russian  hands  at  the  end  of  the  war,  i.e.,  the  line  running 
across  northern  Manchuria,  with  its  branch  from  Harbin 
south  to  Kwangchengtze.  The  Russians  stated  that  they 
were  willing  to  sell  in  case  Japan  also  could  be  persuaded 
to  dispose  of  the  South  Manchurian  Railway. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  agree- 
ment between  China  and  the  Russo- Asiatic  Bank  for  the 
construction  of  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway,  provided  that 
China  might  repurchase  the  line  after  36  years  and  that  it 
would  in  any  case  revert  to  China  at  the  termination  of  an 
eighty-year  period. 

Japan  under  the  Komura  Convention  had  been  recognized 
by  China  as  successor  to  the  Russian  rights,  under  this  agree- 
ment, to  the  portion  of  the  road  acquired  after  the  war. 

It  was  proposed  therefore  that  an  international  syndicate 
should  anticipate  the  operation  of  this  clause  and  repurchase 
the  line  on  China's  behalf,  at  this  time,  rather  than  later. 

The  scheme  was  discussed  with  Mr.  Tang,  during  his 
stay  in  Washington,  in  the  autumn  of  1908  and  he  expressed 
the  opinion  that  China  would  be  glad  to  cooperate.  An 
important  Japanese  financier  who  had  been  informally 
advised  of  the  plan,  however,  stated  that  Japan  would  be 
unwilling  to  acquiesce  therein. 

Notwithstanding  this  fact  the  negotiations  with  Russia 
were  continued  and,  in  the  summer  of  1909,  Mr.  Harriman, 
through  a  leading  Paris  banker,  approached  M.  Kokovtseff, 
then  Minister  of  Finance,  now  Premier,  of  Russia,  and  was 
assured  that  on  his  return  from  a  trip  to  Vladivostock,  upon 
which  he  was  about  to  start,  M.  Kokovtseff  would  recom- 


130  WILLARD   STRAIGHT 

mend  the  sale  of  the  Russian  Railway.     This  he  did  in  a  pub- 
lic address  on  his  return  to  Moscow. 

The  existence  of  the  Harriman  memorandum,  and  the 
attitude  of  the  Russian  IMinister  of  Finance  aside  from  the 
broader  political  considerations  involved,  justified  the  Ameri::! 
can  proposals.  An  entente  had  been  arranged  between 
Japan  and  Russia,  however,  in  1907.  Both  powers  were 
greatly  disturbed  by  the  neutralization  scheme  and  thanks 
to  the  understanding  reached  by  M.  Isvolsky  the  Russian 
IMinister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  Baron  Motono  the  Jap- 
anese Ambassador  in  St.  Petersburg,  they  refused  to  join  in 
Secretary  Knox's  plan.  Russian  objections  to  the  Chin- 
chou-Aigun  project,  as  well  as  the  conditions  imposed  by 
Japan  as  precedent  to  her  participation  therein,  moreover 
prevented  the  construction  of  this  road. 

Furthermore  lest  there  should  be  any  further  misunder- 
standing as  to  their  attitude  these  powers  in  the  convention 
of  July  4,  1910,  agreed  jointly  to  safeguard  their  respective 
interests  in  iManchuria — an  arrangement  which,  though 
undoubtedly  a  natural  one,  was  not,  it  must  be  admitted, 
calculated  to  assure  to  China  herself  the  right  to  develop  this 
territory. 

In  iMay,  1910,  an  arrangement  was  reached  with  the 
French,  German  and  British  groups  for  the  participation  of 
the  American  group  in  the  iHukuang  loan.  At  this  time  the 
three  groups  first  mentioned  invited  the  American  group  to 
join  them  in  the  combination  which  they  had  effected  the 
year  before  for  undertaking  Chinese  loans. 

This  invitation  was  later  accepted  and  an  intergroup 
agreement  was  signed  in  November,  1910. 

On  October  27  of  that  year  the  American  Group  had  con- 
cluded a  preliminary  agreement  for  a  £10,000,000  loan,  to 
finance  China's  currency  reform  and  to  undertake  certain 
industrial  enterprises  in  iManchuria. 

When  the  American  Group  was  first  organized,  and  actively 
supported  by  the  State  Department,  was  seeking  participa- 
tion in  the  iHukuang  loan,  Secretary  Knox  had  declared  that 
the  American  Government  believed  that  the  interests  of 
China  and  of  international  trade  with  that  country  could  best 


china's  loan  negotiations  131 

be  served  by  the  friendly  cooperation  of  the  great  lending 
nations  and  their  banking  groups. 

It  was  in  pursuance  of  this  policy  that  the  American  group 
entered  into  the  combination  with  the  other  groups  and 
admitted  them  to  equal  participation  in  the  currency  loan, 
the  final  contract  for  which  was  signed  on  April  15,  1911. 

The  final  agreement  for  the  Hukuang  loan  was  also  signed 
with  China  by  the  same  parties  on  May  20  of  that  year. 

In  the  present  negotiations  with  China  for  the  reorganiza- 
tion loan,  as  in  fact  in  all  loan  negotiations  during  the  past 
few  years,  the  banking  groups  have  found  their  greatest 
difficulty  in  the  settlement  of  the  question  of  "control." 
It  may  be  well  therefore  before  giving  the  story  of  the  recent 
negotiations  to  review  briefly  the  history  of  this  much  dis- 
cussed term. 

The  word  "control"  has  for  some  time  commonly  been 
used  to  denote  the  guarantees  against  improper  expenditure 
of  loan  funds  which  the  banking  groups,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  have  insisted  upon  securing,  to  which  the  Chinese 
government  has  from  time  to  time  reluctantly  agreed,  and 
constantly  endeavored  to  modify. 

"Control"  in  the  at  present  accepted  sense  of  the  word  was 
first  embodied  in  the  agreement  made  by  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment in  1898,  with  the  British  and  Chinese  Corporation, 
for  a  loan  to  the  Imperial  Railways  of  North  China. 

Under  this  agreement,  and  in  several  others  concluded  at 
about  this  time,  the  lenders,  besides  securing  a  first  mort- 
gage on  the  railway  whose  construction  they  financed,  were 
entitled  to  a  share  in  the  profits  of  the  line. 

For  this  reason  and  also  because  of  the  inexperience  of  the 
Chinese  in  railway  matters,  the  bankers  required  assurances 
that  the  loaned  funds  should  be  so  expended  that  the  mort- 
gaged property  would  constitute  a  sufficient  security. 

They  furthermore  obtained  a  certain  share  in  the  manage- 
ment of  these  lines  in  order  that  there  should  be  secured 
therefrom  an  adequate  return  (to  a  certain  percentage  of 
which  the  banks  were  entitled) ,  and  to  prevent  the  adminis- 
trative inefficiency  and  fraud  which  they  feared  if  the  opera- 
tion of  these  railways  were  placed  entirely  in  Chinese  hands. 


132  WILLARD   STRAIGHT 

The  original  railway  loan  agreements  embodying  the  pro- 
visions above  described  were  all  concluded  prior  to  the  Boxer 
outbreak  of  1900. 

The  final  Shanghai-Nanking  and  Canton-Kowloon  Agree- 
ments (the  Canton-Kowloon  Agreement  slightly  modified 
the  "Shanghai-Nanking"  terms)  confirming  these  stipula- 
tions were  signed  in  1904  and  1907  respectively.  The 
Tientsin-Pukow  loan  agreement  concluded  in  1908,  how- 
ever, substantially  altered  these  conditions. 

Its  signature  marked  the  first  recognition  by  the  banks  of 
the  increasing  efficiency  of  the  "Young  China"  party. 
These  men  demanded  the  radical  modification  of  the  old 
loan  terms.  They  considered  "control"  subversive  of 
China's  sovereign  rights  and  flattered  by  the  blandishments 
of  rival  foreign  interests,  they  were  determined  to  exact  from 
the  world  a  consideration  similar  to  that  accorded  Japan 
after  years  of  patriotic  self-sacrifice  and  conscientious  en- 
deavor. The  avowed  purpose  of  these  officials  to  weaken 
the  hold  of  the  foreigner  on  China  was  heartily  applauded 
throughout  the  provinces.  It  served  as  a  patriotic  issue  on 
which  an  appeal  could  be  made  to  the  masses  and  a  cloak 
under  which  the  provincial  gentry  could  cover  their  real 
purpose,  which  was  to  restrict  the  extension  of  the  Peking 
government's  authority  by  railways  built  with  foreign  loans, 
or  otherwise,  and  their  determination  that  if  foreign  loans 
were  made,  the  chances  for  peculation  should  not  be  monop- 
olized by  the  metropolitan  mandarins. 

Under  the  Tientsin-Pukow  contract  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment, by  a  cash  payment  redeemed  the  right  held  by  the 
banks  under  the  original  agreement  signed  in  1898,  to  a 
share  in  the  profits  of  the  railway.  No  mortgage  on  the 
line  was  given.  The  loan  service  was  to  be  met  from  the 
earnings  of  the  road  or  from  certain  provincial  taxes ;  and  in 
this  agreement  it  was  for  the  first  time  stipulated  that,  in 
case  of  default  on  the  loan  service,  the  hypothecated  reve- 
nues should  be  administered  by  the  Maritime  Customs 
Service.  The  principle  of  joint  management  was  abandoned. 
The  banking  groups,  however,  insisted  that  the  Chinese 
government  should  employ  foreign  engineers  for  the   con- 


china's  loan  negotiations  133 

struction  of  the  line,  and  during  the  Hfe  of  the  loan,  and 
that  requisitions  on  loan  funds  specifying  the  purposes  for 
which  these  sums  were  to  be  applied  should  be  signed  by 
the  director  general.  The  construction  accounts  of  the 
railway  were  to  be  open  to  examination  by  foreign  audi- 
tors to  be  appointed  by  the  banks.  Under  former  loan 
agreements  the  auditors  had  been  empowered  to  stop  the 
withdrawal  of  funds  in  case  the  Chinese  officials  were 
found  guilty  of  peculation.  This  authority  was  not  con- 
ferred by  the  Tientsin-Pukow  contract  and  the  effect  of 
this  modification  soon  became  apparent. 

The  so-called  "Tientsin-Pukow"  terms,  however,  did  not 
prove  to  be  an  effective  guarantee  against  "graft." 

From  the  commencement  of  the  construction  of  this  line 
there  have  been  numerous  scandals,  the  most  flagrant  instance 
resulting  in  the  degradation  of  the  director  general  and  a 
number  of  his  subordinates.  The  cost  of  construction  has 
far  exceeded  even  the  most  liberal  estimates,  and  the  loan 
service  will  therefore  constitute  a  heavy  charge  on  the  rev- 
enues of  the  line. 

Owing  to  the  unsatisfactory  operation  of  the  so-called 
"Tientsin-Pukow"  terms,  negotiations  were  conducted  in 
the  winter  of  1908-1909  between  the  British,  German  and 
French  groups  and  their  respective  governments  with  a 
view  to  reaching  an  understanding  as  to  the  degree  of  "con- 
trol" to  be  demanded  from  China  as  a  condition  precedent  to 
future  loans. 

There  are  different  versions  as  to  the  exact  course  of  events 
in  China  at  this  time.  It  is,  however,  sufficient  to  state  that 
in  conducting  pour-parlers  with  the  Chinese  authorities  for  a 
loan  to  construct  the  Canton-Hankow  Railway,^  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  British  and  Chinese  Corporation  at  Peking 
refused  to  agree  to  "Tientsin-Pukow"  terms  and  insisted  on 
more  effective  "control."  The  representative  of  the  Ger- 
man group,  however,  accepted  these  conditions  and  secured 
the  contract.  The  diplomatic  protests  and  recriminations 
amongst  the  bankers  which  followed  resulted  in  a  compro- 

'  British  capital  had  obtained  a  "preference"  for  financing  the  construc- 
tion of  this  road.     (See  §  3,  page  2.) 


134  WILLARD    STRAIGHT 

mise  under  which  the  British  and  Chinese  Corporation  was 
subordinated  to  the  Hongkonp;  and  Shanghai  Bank,  which 
with  its  French  associates,  combined  with  the  German  group, 
to  negotiate  a  loan  to  cover  not  only  the  Hankow-Canton 
but  the  Hankow-Szechuan  Railways.  The  agreement  was 
initialled  on  the  sixth  of  June,  1909,  and  the  "control" 
provisions  accepted  by  the  banks  were  similar  to  those 
embodied  in  the  Tientsin-Pukow  Agreement. 

Tlie  inclusion  of  the  loan  for  the  construction  of  the  Han- 
kow-Szechuan Railway  in  this  operation  entitled  American 
interests  to  the  participation  which  the  American  group 
eventually  secured. 

Rivalry  between  the  British  and  German  groups  had 
enabled  the  Chinese  in  the  original  Hukuang  Agreement  to 
secure  "Tientsin-Pukow"  terms  despite  the  fact  that  the 
operation  thereof  had  demonstrated  that  more  stringent 
"control"  provisions  were  needed. 

Furthermore,  during  the  year  which  elapsed  before  an 
agreement  was  finally  reached  between  the  British,  German 
and  French  groups  and  the  American  group,  there  was 
an  ever-increasing  "anti-loan"  agitation  in  the  provinces 
through  which  the  Hukuang  lines  were  to  be  constructed. 
Provincial  railway  companies^  were  formed  and  secured  from 
the  vacillating  Peking  government  rights  which  violated 
the  terms  of  the  agreement  initialled  with  the  "Tripartite 
Banks,"  and  in  which  the  Chinese  had  agreed  the  American 
group  should  be  given  a  participation. 

The  National  Assembly,  the  forerunner  of  the  proposed 
Chinese  Parliament  was  convoked  for  the  first  time  in  the 
autumn  of  1910.  Its  members  from  the  outset  interested 
themselves  in  the  question  of  finance  and  showed  a  determi- 

^  Considerable  sums,  quite  insufficient  however  to  build  the  railways  in 
question,  were  secured  by  popular  subscription,  and  in  Szechuan  province 
by  taxation  also.  Construction  work  was  commenced,  and  abandoned, 
and  in  a  number  of  well  authenticated  cases  the  funds  obtained  by  the  com- 
panies were  either  lost  by  the  directors  thereof,  who  speculated  heavily 
in  the  Shanghai  "Rubber  Boom,"  or  stolen  by  more  simple  and  direct 
methods.  The  demonstrated  inability  of  the  provincial  companies  to  do 
the  work  they  had  undertaken  was  used  by  the  imperial  government  to 
justify  its  very  sound  policy  of  railway  "nationalization." 


china's  loan  negotiations  135 

nation  to  scrutinize  government  expenditures,  which  the 
bankers  felt  would  serve  to  restrict,  even  though  it  might 
not  prevent,  official  peculation. 

The  National  Assembly,  moreover,  was  entitled  to  pass 
upon  all  government  loans  and  was  known  to  be  opposed  to  a 
foreign  loan  for  the  construction  of  the  Hukuang  railways  by 
the  central  government,  instead  of  by  the  provincial  com- 
panies. Sheng  Kung  Pao,  Minister  of  communications, 
was  determined,  however,  to  build  the  Hukuang  lines,  and 
in  response  to  the  protests  of  the  Assembly  he  pointed  out 
that  in  negotiating  the  loan  in  question,  he  was  fulfilling 
an  obligation  entered  into  in  1909,  prior  to  the  convoca- 
tion of  the  Assembly,  by  the  Grand  Councillor  Chang  Chih 
Tung.  He  was  obliged  therefore  to  adhere  as  strictly  as 
possible  to  the  terms  of  the  original  contract,  and  would  not 
and  could  not  have  consented  to  any  new  "control"  con- 
ditions at  this  time. 

In  this  arrangement  the  bankers  acquiesed,  feeling  that 
the  punishment  inflicted  after  the  Tientsin-Pukow  frauds 
and  the  surveillance  of  the  National  Assembly  over  the  ex- 
penditure of  loan  funds,  as  well  as  the  difficulties  by  which 
the  central  government  was  confronted,  justified  them 
in  confirming  the  "control"  provisions  of  the  original  agree- 
ment. 

The  Currency  Loan  was  of  a  different  character,  coming 
under  the  head  of  "government"  or  "administrative"  loans. 
Practically  the  only  loans  previously  falling  within  this 
category  had  been  required  to  pay  indemnities  abroad  and 
there  was  no  necessity  therefore  that  the  lenders  should 
exercise  "control"  over  their  expenditure.  The  currency 
loan,  however,  was  to  carry  out  a  definite  program  and 
not  for  general  administrative  purposes.  The  four  banking 
groups  now  acting  in  harmony  believed  some  form  of  super- 
vision to  be  necessary,  and  it  was  thought  that  the  "control" 
machinery  devised  for  railway  loans,  could,  with  certain 
modifications  be  utilized  for  assuring  the  proper  application 
of  the  borrowed  funds  under  the  currency  reform  program. 

The  Chinese  had  reluctantly  agreed  to  various  control 
provisions  in   railway   loan    agreements,   but   they  feared 


136  WTLLARD   STRAIGHT 

that  to  admit  the  principle  of  supervision  over  administrative 
expenditures  would  be  to  pave  the  way  for  foreign  control 
over  China's  general  finances.  An  arrangement  was  finally 
made,  however,  whereby  China  submitted  to  the  groups 
her  program  of  currency  reform  for  their  acceptance,  and 
agreed  to  expend  the  loan  funds  only  in  accordance  therewith, 
to  publish  quarterly  reports  of  disbursements  made,  and  to 
engage  a  foreign  expert  to  assist  the  Bureau  of  Currency 
Reform. 

The  loan  has  not  been  issued  but  it  is  open  to  question 
whether  this  "control,"  in  practice,  would  have  prevented 
peculation,  and  insured  the  proper  expenditure  of  loan  funds, 
and  the  effective  operation  of  the  currency  reform  program. 

Immediately  following  the  outbreak  at  Wuchang,  on 
October  11,  1911,  which  marked  the  beginning  of  the  revolu- 
tion^  in  China  the  representatives  of  the  four  banking  groups 
in  Peking  were  approached  regarding  a  loan  to  the  imperial 
government.  The  Alanchus,  however,  seemed  unable  to 
cope  with  the  rapidly  developing  revolt  and  the  groups  were 
unwilling  to  advance  funds  to  a  government  whose  contin- 
ued existence  seemed  problematical.  Their  governments 
moreover  decided  to  observe  absolute  neutraUty  as  between 
the  contending  factions  and  refused  to  approve  any  loans  to 
■either  side.  The  financial  history  of  the  Revolution  has 
been  ably  told  by  Mr.  George  Bronson  Rea  in  the  Far 

'  It  has  been  generally  stated  that  the  disturbances  in  Szechuan  province 
in  August  and  September  last  marked  the  beginning  of  the  revolutionary- 
movement.  This  is  not  the  case  except  that  the  general  unrest  created 
thereby  contributed  to  the  rapid  spread  of  anti-Manchu  sentiment.  The 
Szechuan  agitation  was  directed  against  the  "nationalization"  of  rail- 
ways, and  the  banking  groups  therefore  have  been  accused  of  being  the 
indirect  cause  of  the  revolt.  This  again  is  not  true.  The  agitation  was 
not  against  railway  "nationalization"  which  the  most  intelligent  leaders 
of  Chinese  public  opinion  recognized  as  desirable,  but  against  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  carried  into  effect.  Shung  Kung  Pao,  the  Minister  of  Com- 
munication, upon  the  signature  of  the  Hukuang  Loan  Agreement  took  steps 
to  repurchase  the  rights  of  the  provincial  companies  in  accordance  with 
the  "nationalization"  plan.  Incidentally,  it  is  reported  on  the  best  author- 
ity, he  bought  up  the  major  portion  of  some  of  the  provincial  bonds,  and 
oflfered  to  redeem  them  at  par.  He  did  not  acquire  control  of  the  Szechuan 
bonds  and  therefore  offered  only  60  per  cent  on  the  face  value.  Hence  the 
riots. 


china's  loan  negotiations  137 

Eastern  Review  and  in  this  account  those  who  are  interested 
may  read  of  the  various  negotiations,  practically  all  of  them 
unsuccessful,  undertaken  by  both  the  imperial  and  republican 
authorities  during  this  period. 

The  Prince  Regent  of  China  retired  on  December  6,  1911, 
turning  over  the  reins  of  government  to  Yuan  Shih  Kai, 
whom  he  had  dismissed  three  years  before  at  a  time  when 
he  stood  out,  as  he  does  today,  as  the  only  man  capable  of 
coping  with  China's  domestic  troubles  and  the  difficulties 
by  which  she  is  threatened  from  abroad. 

The  Emperor  abdicated  on  February  12,  1912,  and  on 
March  10  Yuan  Shih  Kai  was  inaugurated  as  provisional 
president  of  the  Chinese  Republic. 

The  present  loan  negotiations  with  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment were  commenced  in  the  middle  of  February,  when  the 
acting  Minister  of  Finance,  His  Excellency  Chou  Tzu  Chi, 
approached  the  representatives  of  the  so-called  ''Four 
Groups"  (i.e.,  British,  German,  French  and  American)  at 
Peking,  and  asked  for  an  immediate  loan. 

On  February  26,  Mr.  Tang  Shao  Yi,  representing  the 
republican  authorities  at  Nanking,  arrived  in  Peking  for  the 
purpose  of  arranging  a  coalition  government.  On  the  follow- 
ing day,  at  Mr.  Tang's  invitation,  the  representatives  of  the 
four  groups  discussed  with  him  the  question  of  the  loan 
broached  some  days  before. 

Mr.  Tang  stated  the  immediate  requirements  of  the 
Chinese  government,  and  requested  the  representatives  to 
ask  their  groups  to  finance  the  same.  In  addition  he  dis- 
cussed the  Chinese  revenues  available  as  security  for  a 
large  loan  to  reorganize  the  Chinese  administration,  and  to 
initiate  a  scheme  of  commercial  and  industrial  development. 
He  asked  the  representatives  how  much  China  could  borrow 
on  this  security,  and  finally,  himself  suggested  the  figure 
of  £60,000,000,  which  he  wished  the  banks  to  loan  in  five 
annual  instalments  of  £12,000,000  each. 

Pursuant  to  Mr.  Tang's  request  for  an  immediate  advance, 
the  groups  on  the  following  day  paid  in  Shanghai  the  sum 
of  Taels  2,000,000,  to  meet  the  urgent  requirements  of  the 
Nanking  authorities. 


13S  WILLARD    STRAIGHT 

The  four  representatives  had  reported  Mr.  Tang's  request 
to  their  principals  in  Europe  and  America.''  No  reply  had 
been  received  when  on  the  night  of  February  29  a  number  of 
the  Chinese  troops  quartered  in  Peking  mutinied,  looted 
and  burned  portions  of  the  city,  and  openly  defied  the  author- 
ity of  the  provisional  government.  On  the  following  day, 
]\Iarch  1,  it  was  suggested  to  Mr.  Tang  that  it  would  be  desir- 
able that  he  should  make  some  statement  to  reassure  the 
groups  who  were  considering  his  proposition,  regarding  the 
probable  effect  of  the  outbreak,  and  the  ability  of  the  govern- 
ment to  cope  therewith. 

Mr.  Tang's  explanation  was  unsatisfactory,  and  the  burn- 
ing and  looting  continued  on  the  night  of  March  1.  On 
IMarch  2,  acting  under  instructions  from  Yuan  Shih  Kai,  the 
acting  Minister  of  Finance,  requested  from  the  four  groups 
an  immediate  advance  of  1,015,000  taels.  He  stated  in  his 
letter  that  the  President  appreciated  that  in  view  of  the 
critical  state  of  affairs  in  Peking,  the  groups  would  not  be 
prepared  to  lend  this  money  without  the  authority  of  their 
governments,  and  requested  the  representatives  to  secure 
the  necessary  sanction  from  their  ministers  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Though  Mr.  Tang  in  order  to  justify  the  signature  of  the 
''Belgian_j£an"  subsequently  stated  that  the  groups  had 
refused  to  render  assistance  when  approached  after  the 
mutiny  of  February  29,  no  other  requests  for  immediate 
advances  other  than  that  mentioned  above  was  received 
by  the  groups  at  this  time. 

The  seriousness  of  the  situation  at  this  time  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  on  the  same  day  IVIr.  Tang  Shao  Yi  had  addressed 
a  note  to  the  British  Minister  stating  that  he  feared  the 
Peking  authorities  would  no  longer  be  able  to  control  the 
situation,  and   requesting  the  Diplomatic  Corps   to   take 

*  A  number  of  writers  on  this  subject  have  stated  that  on  February  27 
the  group  representatives  made  a  definite  agreement  to  furnish  certain 
sums.  This  is  not  true.  The  group  representatives  merely  agreed  to  report 
Mr.  Tang's  proposition  to  their  principals.  They  did,  however,  in  view  of 
the  urgent  need  of  funds  in  Xanking  (it  was  feared  that  the  troops  might 
mutiny  if  not  paid  immediately)  themselves  assume  the  responsibility  of 
making  the  advance  of  Tls.  2,000,000,  referred  to  in  the  final  paragraph  of  the 
preceding  page. 


china's  loan  negotiations  139 

steps  to  assist  the  Chinese  in  preserving  order.  Yuan  Shi- 
Kai  later  denied  having  authorized  Mr.  Tang  to  take  this 
action. 

On  March  9  the  necessary  authority  having  been  received 
from  the  four  governments,  the  groups  advanced  the  sum 
requested  under  an  exchange  of  letters,  which  (1)  assured 
to  the  groups  the  firm  option  for  furnishing  "the  further 
monthly  requirements  of  the  Chinese  government  for  the 
months  of  March,  April,  May  and  June,  and  if  necessary, 
July  and  August,"  and  (2)  in  view  of  the  assistance  rendered 
the  Chinese  government  in  advancing  the  sums  mentioned 
above  as  well  as  in  undertaking  the  contemplated  advances 
for  monthly  requirements  and  maintaining  Chinese  credit 
on  the  markets  of  the  world  (by  paying  Chinese  loan  interest 
coupon  charges  which  the  Chinese  government  itself  had 
been  unable  to  meet),  the  Chinese  government  assured  to 
the  groups  the  firm  option  on  the  reorganization  loan  (pro- 
vided their  terms  were  equally  advantageous  with  those 
otherwise  obtainable). 

From  the  proceeds  of  this  projected  reorganization  loan 
it  was  intended  to  redeem  the  treasury  bills,  which  were  to  be 
issued  to  cover  the  advances. 

So  urgent  were  the  needs  of  the  Chinese  government, 
that  the  four  groups  did  not  at  this  time  arrange  the  terms 
upon  which  they  would  discount  these  bills,  it  being  impos- 
sible to  settle  this  point  until  after  the  conference  in  Europe 
of  the  four  groups,  which  had  been  called  for  March  12. 

The  terms  on  which  the  groups  were  prepared  to  under- 
take this  business  were  not,  however,  communicated  to  the 
Chinese  authorities,  for  on  the  evening  of  the  14th  the  four 
representatives  learned  that  an  agreement  had  that  morning 
been  concluded  with  the  so-called  ''Belgian  group"  for  a  loan 
of  £1,000,000,  carrying  an  option  for  a  further  large  loan.* 

'  The  Belgian  loan  was  secured  on  the  Peking-Kalgau  R.  R.  the  earn- 
ings of  which  together  with  the  earnings  of  other  "productive  enter- 
prises" controlled  by  the  Board  of  Communications,  had  been  pledged 
as  security  for  the  Anglo-French  loan  of  1908.  The  British  and  French 
Ministers  successfully  protested  against  the  alienation  of  this  security. 
The  price  paid  by  the  bankers  for  the  Belgian  loan  was  lower  than  that 
which  the  four  groups  were  ready  to  give — but  there  were  no  "control" 
provisions  in  the  contract. 


140  WILLARD    STRAIGHT 

This  transaction  was  completed  at  a  time  when  the  Presi- 
dent and  Mr.  Tang  knew  that  the  representatives  were 
hourly  expecting  a  definite  reply  from  the  four  groups  to  the 
proposals  made  by  Mr.  Tang  on  February  27. 

The  signature  of  the  "Belgian  loan"  was  virtually  the 
first  official  act  involving  the  new  administration's  relations 
with  foreigners.  It  was  a  clear  breach  of  contract.  The 
groups,  more  especially  the  British,  French  and  German, 
had  since  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  in  October,  been 
themselves  advancing  funds  to  pay  interest  charges  on  Chi- 
nese loans  which  they  had  issued.  They  had  done  this  to 
protect  the  pubhc  to  which  they  had  sold  Chinese  bonds, 
and  to  protect  the  credit  of  China  where  they  had  very  large 
vested  interests. 

Despite  the  chaotic  conditions  throughout  the  provinces, 
and  the  absence  of  any  really  effective  authority  in  Peking 
the  groups  with  the  support  of  their  governments  had  been 
ready  to  advance  to  China  funds  sufficient  to  put  the  Peking 
administration  on  its  feet  at  a  time  when  no  public  issue  of 
Chinese  bonds  was  possible,  in  order  to  do  their  part  in 
assisting  the  restoration  of  stable  conditions. 

The  signature  of  the  Belgian  loan,  however,  affected  the 
security  for  the  large  loan  which  the  groups  had  been  asked 
to  undertake — and  it  carried  no  guarantee  whatsoever  that 
the  funds  furnished  or  to  be  furnished  would  be  properly 
expended,  it  increased  China's  liabilities  without  insuring 
any  increase  in  the  effectiveness  of  her  administration  and 
instead  of  rehabilitating,  it  was  calculated  to  prejudice,  her 
credit. 

The  "Belgian  loan"  contract  had  been  drawn  subject  to 
ratification  by  the  "Advisory  Council"  at  Nanking. 

Despite  the  protest  made  by  the  four  group  representatives 
on  ]\Iarch  15,  Mr.  Tang  urged,  and  finally  persuaded,  the 
Council  to  ratify  this  agreement,  on  the  ground  that  the 
four  groups  had  refused  to  assist  China  after  the  outbreak 
of  February  29.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Mr.  Tang  at  this 
time  informed  the  Council  of  the  assistance  which  the 
groups  had  rendered,  and  were  prepared  to  render,  or  of  the 
existence  of  the  letters  of  agreement  of  March  9. 


china's  loan  negotiations  141 

The  British,  German,  French  and  American  Ministers  on 
March  25  formally  protested  against  the  conclusion  of  the 
"Belgian"  loan.  Mr.  Tang  Shao  Yi,  then  prime  minister  in 
the  newly  organized  Cabinet,  nevertheless  attempted  to 
secure  further  funds  from  the  "Belgian"  group.  This 
failing,  the  Chinese  government  on  April  15,  replied  to  the 
Minister's  protest  describing  the  signature  of  the  "Belgian" 
loan — and  the  violation  of  the  letters  of  agreement  of  March 
9,  as  a  "misunderstanding"  and  requesting  the  ministers  to 
instruct  the  group  representative  to  resume  negotiations 
with  the  premier  on  his  return  to  Peking. 

The  four  ministers  refused  to  accept  the  explanation 
offered,  and  insisted  that  the  government  should  admit  its 
breach  of  contract  with  the  four  groups.* 

This  condition  was  accepted  and  negotiations  were  re- 
sumed. During  the  next  few  weeks  the  groups  paid  over 
further  amounts,  making  the  total  sum  advanced  12,100,000 
taels,  or  approximately  £1,800,000.  Agreements  covering 
these  later  advances  were  signed  on  May  17,  and  June  12 
under  which,  after  considerable  difficulty,  the  Chinese  had 
been  persuaded  to  agree  to  the  safeguards  which  the  groups 
considered  essential  to  assure  the  application  of  the  loan 
funds  to  the  payment  of  troops  and  to  the  other  purposes 
for  which  they  were  borrowed. 

At  the  request  of  their  respective  governments  the  original 
four  groups  with  the  approval  of  Yuan  Shih  Kai  had  agreed 
to  admit  banking  interests  designated  by  the  Russian  and 
Japanese  governments,  to  a  participation  in  these  transac- 
tions, and  after  protracted  and  most  delicate  negotiations 
an  agreement  was  reached  between  the  six  groups  on  June 
20,  1912,  in  Paris,  regarding  the  conditions  upon  which  they 
were  prepared  jointly  to  undertake  the  proposed  reorgani- 
zation loan  to  China. 

The  groups  were  presented  with  the  problem  of  financing 

'The  "Belgian"  group  included  the  Russo-Asiatic  Bank  which  was 
later  designated  by  the  Russian  Government  to  participate  in  the  "six 
power"  syndicate.  Under  the  Paris  agreement  of  June  20,  1912,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  "Belgian"  group  were  recognized  by  the  combination  as  mem- 
bers of  the  "Russian"  group. 


142  WILL.A.RD   STRAIGHT 

the  reconstruction  of  China  on  conditions  which  would  be 
attractive  to  the  bond  purchasing  pubUc  despite  the  dis- 
organized condition  of  that  country.  To  appreciate  the 
difficulties  the  six  groups  were  obliged  to  take  into  consider- 
ation, it  is  necessary  to  summarize  the  situation  existing  at 
this  time. 

They  had  been  requested  by  China  to  furnish  roughly 
10.000,000  taels  or  £1,300,000  a  month  for  six  months  and  to 
provide  other  sums  making  the  aggregate  amount  to  be 
advanced  80,000,000  taels  or  about  £10,000,000. 

It  would  have  been  impossible  to  issue  a  Chinese  loan  at 
this  time  except  at  a  figure  so  low  as  to  prejudice  the  quota- 
tions for  Chinese  bonds  already  on  the  market,  in  the  hands 
of  the  public  not  of  the  groups.  To  furnish  the  sums  immedi- 
ately required  therefor  the  banks  would  have  been  obliged 
to  discount  treasury  bills,  which  they  would  have  either  had 
to  hold  themselves,  or  dispose  of  to  a  very  limited  clientele. 

These  advances  were  required  to  pay  the  army,  to  finance 
the  disbandment  of  superfluous  troops,  and  to  meet  the  cur- 
rent expenses  of  the  government.  The  large  loan  was  to 
be  expended  to  redeem  the  treasury  bills,  to  clear  off  arrears 
in  China's  indemnity  and  loan  services,  and  to  meet  certain 
pressing  outstanding  obligations.  Mr.  Tang  proposed  to 
use  the  balance  to  make  up  the  loss  of  likin,  which  he  desired 
immediately  to  abolish,  pending  the  consent  of  the  powers  to 
an  increase  in  the  customs  tariff.  In  addition  he  had  cer- 
tain vague  schemes  for  railway  construction,  afforestation, 
and  the  establishment  of  mills  of  various  sorts. 

For  the  advances  and  large  loan  requested  the  Chinese 
government  proposed  to  pledge  the  salt  gabelle  as  security. 
The  service  of  the  Boxer  indemnity  is  a  first  charge  on  this 
revenue.  It  was  estimated  however  that  it  now  yields 
Taels  47,000,000  per  annum — and  could  be  increased  to  at 
least  half  as  much  again  if  honestly  collected.^ 

^  Experience  at  Tientsin  and  Tsingtao  has  shown  the  enormous  increase 
that  might  be  obtained  were  this  tax  properly  administered.  In  Tientsin 
a  single  station  collected  in  six  months  as  much  revenue  as  the  entire  dis- 
trict had  yielded  in  a  year.  At  Tsingtao  the  collections  of  a  station  placed 
under  foreign  direction  were  at  once  increased  six-fold. 


china's  loan  negotiations  143 

The  Chinese  government  at  this  time  was  powerless  to 
collect  the  taxes  which  it  offered  as  security  and  was  unable 
to  meet  her  indemnity  and  loan  payments,  to  pay  troops  or 
to  finance  its  current  administrative  expenses  and  its  perma- 
nence was  by  no  means  assured. 

During  the  course  of  the  negotiations,  from  February  to 
June,  the  Chinese  officials  had  shown  little  appreciation  of 
the  magnitude  of  their  financial  task  and  had  evinced  little 
ability  in  dealing  effectively  therewith. 

The  groups  nevertheless  had  advanced  12,100,000  taels 
in  order  to  enable  the  administration  to  meet  its  most  urgent 
needs  and  to  prevent  the  disorders  and  mutinies  which  it 
was  feared  would  occur  unless  funds,  which  the  government 
could  not  secure  from  its  own  people,  were  obtained. 

These  advances  had  been  made  subject  to  certain  condi- 
tions to  insure  their  proper  application  to  the  purposes  for 
which  they  were  borrowed  yet  the  Chinese  officials  charged 
with  their  expenditure  had  placed  every  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  a  proper  and  efficient  audit,  to  which  they  had  agreed. 

Patriotic  Chinese,  proud  of  their  Republic  and  hopeful  and 
confident  of  its  future  may  regret  the  necessity  of  including 
such  facts  in  this  statement.  These  men,  however,  if  they 
be  fair  minded,  must  admit  that  the  banking  groups,  no 
matter  how  friendly  they  might  be  to  China,  would  not  have 
been  warranted  in  disregarding  them. 

Because  of  these  facts  the  groups  were  unwilling  to  under- 
take the  business  without  the  joint  support  of  their  respec- 
tive governments.  Because  of  these  facts,  moreover,  they 
deemed  it  possible  to  proceed  with  advances  and  to  under- 
take the  reorganization  loan  only  on  certain  conditions 
which  were  briefly  as  follows: 

1.  That  the  groups  should  have  the  right  to  satisfy  them- 
selves as  to  purposes  for  which  funds  were  required. 

2.  That  China  should  herself  create  a  system  of  audit  in 
which  foreigners  should  be  employed  with  powers  not 
merely  advisory,  but  also  executive  so  as  to  ensure  the 
effective  expenditure  of  loan  funds  borrowed  for  the  pur- 
poses specified. 

3.  That  the  salt  taxes  to  be  hypothecated  for  the  service 


144  WILLARD    STR.\IGHT 

of  this  loan  should  be  administered  either  by  the  existing 
Maritime  Customs  organization  or  by  a  separate  Chinese 
service  like  the  customs,  however,  under  foreign  direction, 
thus  safeguarding  the  proper  administration  of  the  security 
despite  the  possible  continuation  or  recurrence  of  unsettled 
conditions  in  China. 

4.  That  the  groups  should  take  the  first  series  of  the  loan 
of  £60,000,000,  at  a  fixed  price,  and  be  assured  an  option 
on  the  subsequent  series  at  a  price  to  be  based  on  the  market 
quotation  of  the  first  issue,  thus  giving  China  the  benefit  of 
any  improvement  in  her  credit. 

5.  That  to  protect  the  quotation  of  bonds  issued  and  to 
assure  a  successful  marketing  of  subsequent  series  China 
should  not  borrow  through  other  groups  until  the  entire 
loan  of  £60,000,000  had  been  issued. » 

6.  That  for  a  period  of  five  years  China  should  appoint 
the  groups  financial  agents  to  assist  the  administration  in  its 
work  of  reorganization. 

These  conditions  were  submitted  to  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment and  in  reply  the  group  representatives  in  Peking  were 
informed  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  China  to  accept  a 
loan  on  such  terms.  Negotiations,  however,  though  inter- 
rupted, were  not  formally  broken  off,  and  from  the  end  of 
June  discussions  were  continued  between  the  Chinese  officials 
and  the  group  representatives,  but  without  result. 

The  difficulty  was  not  a  question  of  the  price  at  which  the 
bankers  should  take  the  bonds.  It  was  the  question  of 
"control."  The  Chinese  particularly  objected  to  placing 
the  salt  gabelle  under  the  Maritime  Customs,  or  any  foreign 
directed  service,  and  to  the  creation  of  a  proper  audit  depart- 
ment to  appointing  the  groups  financial  agents. 

It  has  of  late  years  become  the  fashion,  particularly  among 
officials,  who  like  Tang  Shao  Yi,  and  Liang  Tun  Yen  served 
for  a  short  time  in  the  Maritime  Customs  to  criticise  Sir 
Robert  Hart  and  his  administration.     Mr.  Drew  will  give 

*  In  the  contract  for  the  so-called  "Crisp"  loan  of  £10,000,000  China 
agreed  to  a  stipulation  which  virtually  prevented  her  from  borrowing, 
except  through  the  Crisp  syndicate,  for  the  period  of  one  year  or  until  the 
loan  had  been  issued  in  entirety. 


china's  loan  negotiations  145 

you  an  account  of  the  life  and  work  of  this  man,  one  of  the 
truest  friends  China  ever  had. 

The  younger  men,  however,  forget  his  splendid  service — 
they  do  not  reahze  that  he  did  much  to  save  their  country, 
for  them,  from  foreign  aggression,  and  it  galls  them  to  admit 
that  for  years  the  Customs  Service  has  been,  and  is  today, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Postal  Service,  also  a  creation  of 
Sir  Robert  Hart,  the  only  branch  of  their  entire  government 
which  can,  if  judged  by  western  standards,  be  termed  ef- 
ficient. 

The  suggestion  that  the  salt  gabelle  should  be  put  under 
the  Maritime  Customs  therefore  was  refused,  nor  would 
the  Peking  authorities  agree  to  create  a  similar  organization 
to  undertake  this  work.  Chinese  and  many  foreign  critics 
have  pointed  out  that  the  Customs  Service  functions  at  the 
ports — and  that  it  would  therefore  be  unsuitable  for  the 
collection  of  internal  revenue.  The  Postal  Service,  also 
under  foreign  direction,  however,  has  been  successful  in  its 
work,  conducted  throughout  China,  while  customs  officials 
have  shown  great  ability  in  dealing  with  likin  collectorates 
and  in  solving  customs  problems  in  the  interior  of  Manchuria. 

The  groups  have  not  insisted  upon  the  exact  form  the 
proposed  administration  should  take.  They  have,  and  do, 
believe  that  the  salt  gabelle  does  not  constitute,  and  cannot 
be  considered,  an  adequate  security  unless  by  placing  these 
taxes  under  a  Chinese  government  service — but  with  foreign 
direction,  inspectors,  and  auditors — an  efficient  and  honest 
collection  be  assured. 

In  the  present  state  of  China  when  the  Peking  adminis- 
tration has  by  no  means  established  its  authority — when 
cabinets  are  formed  and  dissolved  with  kaleidoscopic  rapid- 
ity, when  revenues  are  not  being  collected,  and  when  there 
are  large  bodies  of  armed  men  throughout  the  country,  ready 
at  any  time  to  break  into  open  revolt — the  groups  felt  that 
before  engaging  to  undertake  so  large  a  loan  as  that  requested 
they  should  be  able  to  be  in  a  position  to  guide  and  advise 
China  in  her  reorganization  work,  the  success  of  which 
depends  primarily  on  sound  finance.  It  was  for  this  reason 
hat  they  asked  to  be  appointed  financial  agents. 


146  WILLARD   STRAIGHT 

Many  of  the  leading  men  in  Peking  have  privately  recog- 
nized the  wisdom  of  the  groups'  conditions  and  the  advan- 
tages to  be  gained  should  China  accept  them.  Officially, 
however,  these  gentlemen  have  not  dared  recommend  their 
adoption,  fearing  that  their  political  opponents  might  make 
any  concession  to  the  foreigner  the  excuse  for  stirring  up  an 
agitation  which  they  would  be  powerless  to  quell. 

Hoping  to  obtain  less  onerous  terms  the  Minister  of 
Finance  in  July  last  proposed  that  the  groups  should  continue 
advances  to  be  redeemed  from  a  loan  of  £10,000,000. 

This  sum,  however,  would  have  been  scarcely  sufficient 
to  meet  China's  outstanding  and  inomediate  obligations. 
The  safeguards  which  were  suggested  by  the  Chinese  more- 
over were  inadequate.  The  groups  therefore  were  unable 
to  negotiate  on  this  basis.  The  officials  then  stated  that  as 
the  groups  would  not  lend  on  "reasonable"  terms  they  would 
be  obliged  to  secure  funds  from  their  own  people.  The 
group  representatives  and  the  foreign  ministers  in  Peking 
welcomed  the  suggestion,  and  urged  them  to  make  a  ''popu- 
lar" loan.  This  was  attempted  but  without  success;  the 
"people"  contributed  small  sums,  but  not  enough.  The 
government  next  approached  certain  commercial  houses 
and  secured  small  loans,  in  return  for  large  contracts  for 
arms  and  ammunition.  Tramway  concessions  were  offered 
in  return  for  cash  advances,  and  other  expedients  adopted 
to  secure  funds  sufficient  to  meet  the  government's  running 
expenses,  all  of  which  while  relieving  a  temporary  necessity 
merely  increased  the  difficulties  of  an  already  almost  hope- 
less financial  problem. 

Early  in  September  it  was  reported  that  on  August  30 
the  Chinese  Minister  in  London  had  signed  a  loan  agreement 
with  Messrs.  C.  Birch  Crisp  and  Company  of  London. 
Enquiry  addressed  to  the  Minister  of  Finance  in  Peking 
evoked  the  information  that  he,  the  Minister  of  Finance, 
had  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  conclusion  of  the  London 
contract  which  had  been  arranged  by  his  predecessor  acting 
in  an  informal  capacity.  The  Minister  of  Finance  assured 
the  representatives  that  China  desired  to  deal  with  the  six 
groups  as  the  only  combination  capable  of  furnishing  withii) 


china's  loan  negotiations  147 

the  next  few  years  the  enormous  sums  which  China  would 
need  to  reorganize  her  administration  and  finance  the  in- 
dustrial development  upon  which  the  Peking  Government 
wished  to  embark.  At  the  time  this  discussion  took  place 
funds  advanced  by  Messrs.  C.  Birch  Crisp  and  Company 
had  already  been  transferred  to  China  and  placed  to  the 
credit  of  the  Chinese  government  in  a  Tientsin  bank.  This 
fact  became  known  to  the  representatives  who  brought  it 
to  the  attention  of  the  Minister  of  Finance.  He  reiterated 
his  former  declaration  that  China  desired  to  deal  with  the 
six  groups  and  as  late  as  September  23  handed  the  represen- 
tatives a  statement  of  conditions  which  he  informed  them 
China  would  be  ready  to  make  the  basis  for  the  continua- 
tion of  negotiations  for  the  reorganization  loan.  These  terms 
were  not  considered  acceptable  by  the  group  representatives. 
The  Minister  of  Finance  thereupon  informed  them  that  since 
they  had  refused  the  terms  proposed  by  China  he  considered 
that  the  option  which  the  groups  had  held,  had  lapsed  and 
that  China  was  free  to  negotiate  with  other  parties.  The 
so-called  "Crisp"  loan  was  issued  in  London  shortly  after- 
ward. 

From  the  above  facts  it  would  seem  that  the  Chinese 
government  was  prepared  to  repudiate  the  contract  signed 
with  London  bankers  on  August  30,  in  case  the  six  groups 
were  willing  to  come  to  terms. 

This  incident,  in  connection  with  others  mentioned  above, 
is  not  cited  for  the  purpose  of  impugning  the  good  faith  of 
the  Chinese  government.  Those  familiar  with  the  difficulties 
with  which  the  provisional  government  has  been  endeavor- 
ing to  deal  are  not  inclined  to  hold  China  too  strictly  to 
account  for  what  her  real  friends  will  regard  as  mistaken  and 
unfortunate,  rather  than  reprehensible,  efforts  to  solve  her 
financial  problem.  At  the  same  time,  with  all  possible  con- 
sideration for  China  and  every  sympathy  for  her  oflficials 
in  the  performance  of  their  onerous  tasks,  it  must  be  recog- 
nized that  such  actions  will,  if  continued,  make  it  impossible 
to  maintain  Chinese  credit. 

It  will  be  said  perhaps  that  by  concluding  the  so-called 
"Crisp"  loan,  China  demonstrated  her  ability  to  borrow  in 


14S  WILLARD    STRAIGHT 

the  markets  of  the  world.  This  may  be  true,  but  the  fact 
tliat  China  could  in  this  case  secure  funds  was  due  largely  to 
public  confidence  in  the  stability  of  the  Chinese  administra- 
tion based  on  the  willingness  of  the  six-power  group  to 
advance  funds  to  the  provisional  government  even  prior  to 
the  inauguration  of  the  President,  Yuan  Shih  Kai,  and  the 
belief  that  the  six  groups  would  in  the  end  come  to  an 
arrangement  with  Peking  which  would  give  value  to  all 
Chinese  securities. 

Many  gentlemen  in  the  United  States  have  pointed  out  in 
discussing  this  subject  that  the  American  banking  group  in 
particular  should  remember  the  history  of  our  own  country 
and  not  be  too  exacting  in  its  dealings  with  the  Chinese 
Republic. 

The  argument  is  plausible  but  cannot  be  given  too  much 
weight  when  it  is  remembered  that  when  our  federal  govern- 
ment was  first  established  there  was  no  large  pubUc  debt 
while  the  resources  of  the  young  American  Republic  were 
enormous.  The  funds  secured  from  abroad  during  our  revo- 
lution, and  immediately  following  its  conclusion,  had  been 
advanced  by  the  French  government,  not  so  much  with  the 
idea  of  assisting  the  struggling  colonies  as  for  the  purpose 
of  embarrassing  Great  Britain.  Only  when  Alexander 
Hamilton  had  reorganized  the  finances  of  the  country, 
securing  the  assiunption  by  the  federal  government  of  the 
larger  part  of  the  debt  of  the  states,  and  after  he  had  put  the 
administration  of  the  Treasury  Department  on  a  sound 
basis,  were  the  United  States  able  to  borrow  from  foreign 
bankers  on  satisfactory  terms.  The  Ministry  of  Finance  in 
Peking,  however,  is  still  operated  on  lines  scarcely  conform- 
able to  our  ideas  of  a  business  administration,  despite  the 
efforts  of  able  men  like  Dr.  Chen  Chin  Tao,  while  the  repub- 
lican government  has  assumed  the  obligations  of  its  imperial 
predecessor  for  which  the  revenues  of  China  are  to  a  very 
large  degree  already  hypothecated,  and  for  the  ser\'ice  of 
which  they  are  at  the  present  time  insufficient. 

Not  long  ago  I  happened  to  be  present  when  the  loan  ques- 
tion was  discussed  by  a  distinguished  gentleman  who  had 
just  returned  from  the  Far  East.     He  had  been  greatly 


china's  loan  negotiations  149 

impressed  by  what  the  revolution  had  accomplished,  was 
full  of  admiration  for  the  Chinese  people  and  confident  of  the 
bright  future  of  the  Republic.  He  felt  that  the  bankers  were 
mistaken  in  demanding  terms  which  the  Chinese  considered 
so  onerous  and  thought  that  the  wiser  poUcy  for  the  groups 
would  be  to  work  for  the  future  by  now  making  concesssions 
calculated  to  relieve  the  Chinese  officials  of  their  immediate 
embarrassments.  He  thought  that  for  American  mer- 
chants the  fairest,  and  at  the  same  time  the  ultimately  most 
profitable,  attitude  to  adopt  toward  China  was  to  strive  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  "open  door"  under  which  with  a 
strong  central  government  international  trade  would  greatly 
prosper. 

He  recognized  that  the  authority  of  the  present  Peking 
administration  was  not  generally  established  in  the  provinces, 
that  revenues  were  not  being  collected  and  that  without 
money  the  central  government  could  not  become  strong. 
He  admitted  that  while  he  had  met  many  officials  he  had 
seen  few  whom  he  considered  competent  to  direct  the  expen- 
diture of  large  sums  in  the  manner  most  likely  to  assure  the 
speedy  restoration  of  normal  conditions  throughout  the 
country  and  he  believed  therefore  that  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment should  employ  advisers  and  accept  their  advice. 

The  distinguished  traveler  had  predicated  his  hope  for  the 
future  on  the  establishment  of  a  strong  central  government 
which  would  be  able  to  collect  sufficient  revenue  to  finance 
its  own  reorganization.  Unfortunately,  however,  this  can- 
not be  accompUshed  unless  the  Chinese  government  first 
secures  from  abroad  money  sufficient  to  give  it  the  power  to 
make  these  collections  and  pay  off  its  pressing  debts  under 
safeguards  which  will  protect  it  for  the  time  being  from  exter- 
nal aggression. 

If  his  conclusions  as  to  the  ability  of  Chinese  officials  now 
in  power  were  warranted,  and  his  observations  correct  regard- 
ing the  present  state  of  affairs  in  China,  his  recommendation 
that  the  groups  "play  for  the  future,"  by  lending  money  on 
terms  acceptable  to  the  Chinese,  would  scarcely  seem  jus- 
tified by  his  premises.  Those  who  have  lived  in  China  and 
grown  to  know  and  admire  the  Chinese,  however,  will  readily 


150  WILLARD   STRAIGHT 

understand  this  point  of  view.  It  is  impossible  not  to  sym- 
pathize with  the  aspirations  of  the  young  men  who  are  now 
striving  to  do  what  they  can  for  their  country.  At  the  same 
time  American  bankers  would  not  be  acting  as  true  friends 
of  China  if  they  failed  to  look  the  facts  of  the  situation  in  the 
face.  They  would  not  be  "plajdng  for"  the  best  future  for 
China  should  they  lend  money  on  conditions  which  might 
satisfy  the  vanity  of  Chinese  officialdom  but  instead  of  assist- 
ing the  establishment  of  a  strong  central  goverimient  would 
encourage  improvident  financial  methods  and  lead  inevitably 
to  foreign  intervention. 

The  present  financial  situation  in  China  is  set  forth  in  an 
article  in  the  North  China  Herald  of  September  28,  1912, 
an  abstract  of  which  is  given  below: 

The  obligations  that  China  is  bound  to  liquidate  are  as  follows. 
First  of  all,  Tls.  12,000,000  advanced  by  the  sextuple  group  from 
February  to  July,  on  the  distinct  understanding  that  the  Chinese 
government  would  sign  the  loan  with  them,  including  this  sum  in 
the  total  amount  for  which  the  loan  is  signed.  The  Chinese 
government  gave  the  banks  treasury  bills,  and  at  the  exchange 
fixed  the  total  works  out  at  £1,750,000  sterling.  Secondly,  there 
are  amounts  due  to  the  shipbuilding  firms  in  England  and  the  United 
States  for  works  executed  by  them  on  orders  given  by  the  Manchu 
government  but  completed  during  this  year.  In  the  list  of  their 
outstanding  debts  furnished  by  them  to  the  sextuple  group  the 
Chinese  government  have  £700,000  against  this  item. 

Thirdly,  there  are  the  Hupeh  and  Nanking  loans  of  about 
£300,000  each  given  by  the  banks  to  the  Viceroys  of  the  two 
p^o^^nces  on  the  authority  of  Peking  during  the  jNIanchu  regime. 
These  sums  have  been  overdue  for  some  time,  and  as  the  new  gov- 
ernment has  undertaken  responsibility  for  all  the  past  obligations 
the}'  must  be  paid  the  moment  it  obtains  funds.  Fourthly, 
there  are  two  loans  contracted  at  recent  dates  on  the  under- 
standing that  they  would  be  repaid  as  soon  as  China  signed  the 
big  loan.  The  Diederichsen  loan  of  Mks.  5,000,000  and  the 
Carlowitz  loan  of  Tls.  6,000,000  come  under  this  category.  Part 
of  these  amounts  was  received  in  cash,  although  the  major  portion 
consisted  of  amounts  due  on  arms  and  ammunition  supplied  by 
these  firms  during  the  revolution. 

Fifthly,  the  Skoda  loan  contracted  with  Arnold,  Karberg  and 
Compan}'  during  the  revolution,  the  moiety  of  which  was  received 
in  cash  and  the  rest  in  the  shape  of  arms  and  ammunition,  amounts 
to  about  £450,000.  Sixthly,  as  the  currency  loan  was  floated  by 
members  of  the  group,  and  as  it  is  not  likely  to  be  floated  by  them 
if  the  present  arrangements  are  continued,  they  will  be  entitled 


china's  loan  negotiations  151 

to  demand  repayment  of  the  advance  of  £400,000  made  to  the 
government  last  year  in  April,  1913. 

In  the  seventh  place,  the  amounts  due  on  indemnities,  which 
have  been  outstanding  since  October  last  will  work  out  at  over 
£2,500,000.  The  total  to  be  paid  by  China  on  this  account  works 
out  roughly  at  £250,000  per  month.  Making  due  allowance  for 
last  year's  surplus  from  the  customs  revenue  and  the  accumulation 
of  native  customs  revenue,  which  Dr.  Morrison  referred  to  recently, 
there  would  still  be  outstanding  the  amounts  due  from  January 
this  year. 

Lastly  seeing  that  the  Chinese  dropped  the  Anglo-Belgian 
syndicate  loan  after  taking  an  advance  of  £1,250,000,  the  sj^n- 
dicate  will  not  have  the  least  hesitation  in  demanding  immediate 
payment  of  the  amount.  Besides  there  are  a  number  of  small 
Japanese  loans,  and  small  German  loans,  other  than  those  we 
have  mentioned,  mostly  for  arms  supplied  during  the  revolution 
— the  date  of  payment  of  which  is  long  overdue.  Everybody 
has  been  anxiously  waiting  for  the  big  loan,  especially  as  no  security 
has  been  given  besides  the  bond  of  the  Chinese  authorities. 

Further,  it  is  necessary  to  state  in  this  connection  that  the 
merchants,  banks  and  other  rich  Chinese  who  helped  the  new 
government,  both  during  the  struggle  and  after,  now  stand  badly 
crippled  from  want  of  funds.  They  have  been  often  told  that  their 
outstandings  would  be  cleared  as  soon  as  the  first  loan  with  the 
foreigner  was  closed.  Trade  is  badly  in  need  of  the  funds  spent  on 
the  revolution;  and  if  a  moiety  of  the  debts  of  the  government  is 
not  paid  even  after  a  foreign  loan  becomes  an  actuality,  the  fail- 
ure may  give  rise  to  acute  discontent.  The  amount  on  this 
score  is  not  available,  but  the  lowest  estimate  puts  it  at  about  Tls. 
20,000,000. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  London  syndicate  is  able  to  float  the 
whole  of  the  £10,000,000^  in  October.  The  loan  is  expected  to  be 
floated  at  95,  brokerage  and  other  expenses  incident  on  the  flota- 
tion may  be  put  at  3  per  cent,  and  by  the  time  the  loan  is  floated,, 
if  at  all  successfully,  China  would  have  received  and  spent  at 
least  £150,000.  The  net  receipts  from  the  loan  would  therefore 
amount  to  £9,050,000.  The  total  foreign  indebtedness,  of  which 
China  could  not  in  honor  delay  payment,  amounts  to  £8,950,000. 
Thus  she  will  have  a  residue  of  £100,000  with  which  to  pay  her 
unpaid  troops  and  disband  them,  and  begin  setting  the  Republic 
in  order. 

If  China  refuses  to  pay  all  her  outstanding  debts  at  present 
except  the  indemnity  instalments  that  have  fallen  in  arrears — 
in  order  to  save  the  salt  gabelle  from  being  taken  over  by  the 
powers — she  will  have  fully  £6,500,000  to  pay  her  soldiers  with 
and  begin  reforms  at  once — so  it  is  suggested  in  some  quarters. 
In  the  case  of  an  individual  such  refusal  would  mean  bankruptcy; 

"£5,000,000  was  floated  in  September.  The  bankers  paid  89  for  the 
bonds — China  received  not  more  than  £4,450,000. 


152  WILLARD    STRAIGHT 

in  tlu'  case  of  a  natimi  it  would  moan  tlio  utter  ruination  of  its 
orodit  in  the  markets  of  the  world.  And  China  must  necessarily 
borrow  much  more  than  £l(),()()(),()00.  There  is  no  disguising  the 
fact  that  China  lias  no  security  to  offer — security  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  word.  Her  performances  in  the  past  have  not  been 
sucli  as  to  inspire  confidence.  And  her  hidden  resources  need  an 
enormous  amount  of  capital  in  order  that  any  tangible  result  may 
be  got  out  of  them. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  in  his  speech  in  March  before  the 
Assembly  at  Nanking  the  then  Premier,  Mr.  Tang  Shao  Yi,  stated 
that  £2."), 000,000,  besides  the  revenue,  would  be  absolutely  needed 
within  the  next  twelve  months.  What  he  said  then  was  substan- 
tially correct,  and  remains  true  today.  The  interval  has  only 
slightly  added  to  the  total  needs,  as  the  soldiers  are  still  being  kept 
and  paid  from  want  of  funds  to  pay  and  disband  them — although 
in  the  interim  a  number  of  small  loans  and  advances  have  all  been 
received  and  spent.  It  is  quite  interesting  to  note  the  different 
items  for  which  funds  are  needed  although  our  list  is  not  identical 
with  that  supplied  to  the  Assembly  by  Mr.  Tang  Shao  Yi. 

If  China  wishes  to  preserve  her  credit  as  a  power,  she  must 
liquidate  her  pressing  debts  before  beginning  any  constructive 
work.  First  and  foremost  is  the  foreign  indebtedness  to  the  tune 
of  £9,000,000 — the  details  of  which  we  have  mentioned  above. 
Secondly,  her  merchants,  bankers  and  gentry,  who  supplied  funds 
to  prosecute  the  revolution  and  carry  on  the  new  government 
deserve  better  consideration  than  they  have  received;  and  the  sums 
owing  to  them  are  estimated  at  about  Tls.  20,000,000,  or  roughly 
£3,000,000.  Thirdly,  she  must  pay  the  troops,  who  are  now  eat- 
ing their  heads  off,  and  disband  the  major  portion  of  them.  It 
was  estimated  that  expenditure  on  this  score  would  cost  £5,000,000 
some  four  months  ago.  A  certain  number  of  troops  have  been 
disbanded,  but  the  cost  of  getting  rid  of  the  rest  of  them  has  not 
greatly  been  lessened,  owing  to  the  delay. 

Fourthly,  she  will  have  to  bu}''  back  the  republican  bonds,  on 
which  she  has  to  pay  interest  half  yearly  at  the  rate  of  8  per  cent 
per  annum,  while  the  bonds  are  continually  depreciating.  Sums 
received  on  account  of  the  "so-called  patriotic  loan,"  while  of  no 
practical  utility  to  her,  are  depleting  the  resources  of  the  trade  in 
the  provinces.  These  suggestions  are  made  with  the  view  to 
enable  China  to  start  with  a  clean  slate,  if  she  wishes  to  proceed 
with  the  work  of  reorganization  without  encumbrances.  Thus 
before  she  begins  any  construction  work  she  stands  to  have  to  pay 
out  £19,000,000. 

Now  as  regards  sums  needed  for  construction  work  and  reform. 
The  basis  of  all  reorganization  in  China  is  currency  reform,  and 
so  long  as  the  currency  is  what  it  is  there  is  no  hope  of  making 
headway  of  any  kind.  It  may  be  remembered  that  in  the  cur- 
rency loan  arrangement  of  1911,  £7,000,000  was  set  apart  for  cur- 
rency reform ;  and  that  amount  does  not  err  on  the  side  of  extrav- 
agance.    Whatsoever  may  be  the  final  decision  in  regard  to  the 


china's  loan  negotiations  153 

standard,  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  considerable  amount  of  silver 
would  have  to  be  purchased  presently  and  coined;  and  one  may 
rest  assured  that  in  working  out  the  details  in  connection  with 
bringing  about  a  uniform  currency  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  country,  more  funds  may  be  needed  later  on. 

Of  equal  importance  is  the  immediate  necessity  for  taking  meas- 
ures to  minimize  the  effects  of  the  famines  and  floods,  which  cause 
a  perennial  loss  to  the  country  and  bring  death  and  ruin  to  thou- 
sands, if  not  millions,  year  after  year.  Mr.  Jameson's  scheme  of 
constructing  dykes  should  be  taken  in  hand  immediately,  and 
afforestation  should  be  carried  on  simultaneously.  An  expendi- 
ture of  £5,000,000  distributed  during  the  next  five  years  is  not 
beyond  the  mark;  and  the  loss  averted  during  this  period,  judging 
by  past  experience,  would  be  fully  that  amount.  Of  course,  when 
a  loan  is  arranged,  it  should  be  for  the  full  amount,  for  the  sooner 
the  works  are  finished  the  more  profitable  they  would  be  for  the 
country.  In  so  far  as  such  expenditure  would  amply  repay  itself, 
it  is  hardly  to  be  reckoned  among  China's  debts.  But  it  is  a 
charge  for  which,  in  the  first  place,  a  large  sum  of  ready  money 
will  be  required. 

The  ideal  of  any  loan  to  China  at  present  should  be  to  enable 
her  to  pay  back  the  past  and  present  borrowings.  Of  course, 
the  basis  of  such  an  ideal  are  the  untapped  resources  of  China 
for  taxation,  the  great  industrial  and  agricultural  possibilities  of 
the  land  and  the  hidden  resources  of  the  country.  But  even 
to  find  these  money  is  needed;  to  develop  them  much  more.  Devel- 
opment in  this  direction  alone,  under  the  aegis  of  a  good  govern- 
ment and  a  sound  currency,  would  enable  China  to  pay  interest 
and  principal  of  past,  present  and  future  debts.  Expedients  like 
those  of  the  increase  of  the  customs  dues  or  the  salt  tax  would 
prove  only  of  temporary  utility,  and  under  certain  conditions 
might  even  do  harm. 

The  currency  loan  of  last  year  included  provision  for  £3,000,- 
000  for  Manchurian  industrial  development.  And  thrice  three 
millions  sterling  for  the  eighteen  provinces  for  industrial  develop- 
ment and  administrative  reform  would  only  err  on  the  side  of 
economy.  Of  course,  this  program  does  not  take  into  account 
sums  needed  for  railway  construction  in  the  country  or  private 
industrial  enterprises.  And  in  China's  present  financial  state  it 
would  be  ridiculous  to  dream  of  spending  money  for  military  or 
naval  advancement.  Thus,  it  would  seem  that  if  foreign  loans 
should  serve  any  beneficent  purpose  at  all  for  China,  a  sum  of 
£40,000,000  is  necessary  during  the  year  ending,  say,  next  June; 
and  further  amounts,  into  the  details  of  which  it  is  too  early  now 
to  go,  appear  likely  to  be  needed  in  the  coming  years. 

This  total  of  China's  needs  for  the  year  is  based  on  the  sup- 
position that  the  revenue  of  the  country  will  meet  its  ordinary 
expenditure.  Mr.  Tang  said  there  would  be  a  deficit  of  Tls. 
40,000,000  this  year,  and  probably  the  same  amount  next — the 
obvious  deduction  being,  of  course,  that  borrowings  will  have  to 


154  WILLARD    STRAIGHT 

be  incrcnscd  to  tliis  oxtont.  Anyhow,  there  is  no  doubting  that 
any  syndicate  proposing  to  lend  money  to  China  should  be  able 
to  arrange  for  £4(),()()0,0()()  during  the  next  nine  months,  and  be 
able  to  pay  about  £GO,()Ol),()()0  during  the  next  three  years.  The 
original  proposal  of  the  sextuple  group  was  arranged  on  this  basis, 
and  the  total  of  ,£60,000,000  was  agreed  upon  as  necessary  for  the 
regeneration  of  the  country. 

Again  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  annual  payments  on 
foreign  loans  by  China  will  almost  be  trebled  from  1916.  The 
amortization  of  tiie  railway  loans  starts  from  then,  and  the  in- 
demnity payments  would  then  be  more  than  double  the  present 
amounts.  If  China  is  not  up  and  doing,  with  something  in  the 
way  of  reorganization  she  must  be  deeper  in  the  mire  than  ever  by 
1916.  At  present  everything  in  the  way  of  reform  needs  large 
initial  expenditure.  To  stop  squeeze  in  the  collection  of  revenue 
it  is  necessary  to  have  good  accounting,  and  officials  with  a  salary 
which  would  place  them  above  temptation.  The  land  tax  in 
China  gives  a  ridiculously  low  yield;  to  increase  it  an  efTectual 
survey  costing  millions  of  taels  is  essential. 

That  the  banks  composing  the  sextuple  group,  with  their  respec- 
tive governments  at  their  back,  would  be  able  to  supply  China 
with  this  large  total  with  more  facility  than  any  number  of  other 
syndicates  is  beyond  question.  The  Chinese  themselves  know  it, 
and  hence  their  anxiety  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  group  in 
spite  of  their  latest  action. 

Apropos  of  the  apparent  success  of  the  new  loan  we  understand 
that  already  demands  have  been  made  upon  Peking  by  several 
individuals  and  institutions  in  China.  The  funds  of  the  Bank 
of  China  were  drawn  upon  to  further  the  cause  of  the  revolution; 
and  the  bank  naturally  requires  money  to  carry  on  its  ordinary 
business.  This  bank  is  the  best  of  institutions  of  a  similar  kind 
in  China  and  deserves  the  help  of  the  government — at  least  to  the 
extent  of  receiving  back  what  it  paid  out.  But  then,  how  far  will 
£10,000,000  go?" 

Such  is  the  situation  as  seen  by  the  Shanghai  business  man. 
The  six  groups  because  of  the  support  of  their  governments, 
and  because  they  believe  that  a  loan  properly  safeguarded 
is  the  only  means  by  which  normal  conditions  can  be  restored 
in  China,  are  willing  to  assist  the  Chinese  government,  in 
deahng  with  the  conditions  described  above.  They  are 
criticised,  however,  because  they  are  unwilling  to  loan  funds 
except  on  terms  which  the  Chinese  regard  as  humiliating. 

It  has  frequently  been  stated  moreover  that  one  of  the 
chief  Chinese  objections  to  the  ''six-power"  group  has  been 
the  fear  of  any  combination  in  which  Russia  and  Japan  is 
represented.     Those  who   are   famihar  with   Far  Eastern 


china's  loan  negotiations  155 

politics  and  who  have  considered  their  relation  to  European 
affairs,  are  aware  that  this  grouping  of  the  powers  is  a  safe- 
guard rather  than  a  menace  to  China's  integrity.  They 
will  reaUze  that  if  this  combination  be  maintained  and 
China  be  willing  to  cooperate  therewith,  she  will  be  able 
better  to  protect  herself  against  the  selfish  designs  of  indi- 
viduals which  even  though  they  may  not  be  prevented  will 
certainly  be  restricted  by  the  necessities  of  joint  action.^" 

Those  who  have  criticised  the  attitude  of  the  six-power 
group  have  in  a  measure  lost  sight  of  some  of  the  elementary 
functions  of  a  banking  house  which  handles  foreign  loans. 
They  have  forgotten  that  it  is  not  the  bankers  themselves 
who  provide  the  money  to  finance  a  foreign  loan,  though  they 
may  for  a  time  advance  from  their  own  resources  certain 
preliminary  payments.  Bond  issues,  however,  are  sold  to 
the  public,  the  bankers  receiving  their  commission  on  the 
sale  and  the  reputation  of  a  house  of  issue  like  that  of  any 
other  commercial  establishment  depends  upon  the  quality 
of  the  commodity  which  it  sells.  Bankers  would  not  be 
justified  in  requesting  their  clients  to  take  bonds  on  a  senti- 
mental and  not  a  business  basis  any  more  than  the  presi- 
dent of  an  insurance  company  would  be  warranted  in  loaning 
funds  for  which  he  was  responsible  to  a  personal  friend 
regarding  whose  solvency  he  had  no  guarantee. 

The  groups  engaged  in  the  present  Chinese  loan  negotia- 
tions are  institutions  of  the  highest  standing  in  their  respec- 
tive countries.  The  rupture  in  negotiations  did  not  come 
because  the  bankers  attempted  to  obtain  an  unreasonable 
commission  but  because  they  felt  they  could  not  afford  to 
place  upon  the  market  a  loan  which  they  did  not  consider 
sound  in  the  present  state  of  China  unless  they  obtained  safe- 
guards such  as  they  have  demanded,  not  to  add  to  their  own 
profit,  but  in  the  interest  of  the  prospective  investor. 

**  Had  it  not  been  for  the  agreement  between  the  six  powers  to  take  no 
separate  and  individual  action  during  the  Revolution  Japan  would  have 
sent  an  expedition  to  China  to  keep  the  Manchus  on  the  throne.  She  was 
prevented  from  taking  this  step  by  the  representations  of  the  British  gov- 
ernment which  insisted  that  nothing  should  bo  done  to  prejudice  continued 
joint  action  by  all  the  great  powers. 


156  WILLARD   STRAIGHT 

Fair-minded  observers  of  recent  events  in  the  Far  East 
recognize  that  the  American  banking  group  has  during  the 
past  three  years  demonstrated  its  friendship  for  China.  The 
American  bankers  personally  wish  for  the  success  of  the 
Chinese  Repubhc.  As  real  friends  of  China,  however,  it 
would  be  just  as  reprehensible  for  them  to  offer  for  sale  bonds 
secured  from  China  on  terms  which  they  did  not  consider 
calculated  to  restore  and  increase  her  credit,  as  it  would  be 
for  them  to  issue  to  the  public  securities  which  they  did  not 
feel  assured  would  constitute  a  sound  investment. 

It  has  been  stated  by  men  in  authority  in  Peking  that  they 
would  rather  sell  their  country  bit  by  bit  than  submit  to  the 
terms  asked  by  the  six-power  group.  Concessions  have  been 
offered  giving  to  foreigners  the  right  to  construct  and  operate 
railways  for  forty  years  in  return  for  a  cash  down  payment 
of  5,000,000  taels.  This  indeed  would  be  to  sell  the  nation's 
birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage  and  to  sow  the  dragon's 
teeth  of  financial  bondage.  Yet  it  is  proposed  by  the  very 
men  who  complain  most  bitterly  of  the  conditions  required 
by  the  six  groups  which  are  mild  in  comparison  and  which  are 
calculated  to  build  up  a  strong  central  government  rather 
than  create  a  nest  of  warring  foreign  interests  which  will 
cause  China  trouble  and  shame  for  years  to  come. 

In  these  negotiations  the  banking  groups  have  been  charged 
with  a  very  heavy  responsibility.  Their  terms  were  sub- 
mitted only  after  long  and  careful  deliberation.  China's 
difficulties  were  fully  and  sympathetically  considered  and  the 
conditions  required  by  the  groups  were  prepared  in  her  inter- 
est as  well  as  in  the  interests  of  the  groups  and  the  prospec- 
tive bondholders. 

Recognizing,  however,  the  peculiar  difficulties  of  the  pres- 
ent Peking  government  the  groups  have  throughout  been 
willing  to  consider  any  plan  which  the  Chinese  themselves 
might  propose,  calculated  to  free  them  from  embarrassment, 
and  at  the  same  time  carrying  with  it  safeguards  sufficient 
to  make  any  loan  based  thereon  a  sound  investment. 

The  six  groups  have  been  endeavoring  to  induce  China 
to  undertake  real  constructive  work  while  the  Peking  authori- 
ties have  either  failed  to  realize  the  necessity  therefor  or 


china's  loan  negotiations  157 

have  been  unwilling  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  under- 
taking a  practical  and  comprehensive  scheme.  In  follow- 
ing this  course  these  officials  are  China's  worst  enemies  for 
the  reckless  financial  policy  of  the  past  few  months  if  con- 
tinued will  lead  to  that  very  intervention,  which  in  refusing 
the  six  groups'  terms,  these  gentlemen  have  been  avowedly 
trying  to  avoid. 

The  groups  have  not  been  attempting  to  force  money,  with 
humiliating  conditions  attached,  on  China.  They  have 
stated  merely  that  they  are  willing,  only  upon  certain  condi- 
tions, to  loan  the  money  which  China  has  requested  them 
to  furnish.  The  groups  do  not  insist  that  China  accept  a 
loan  if  these  conditions  are  unacceptable.  They  do  say  that 
they  will  not  issue  Chinese  bonds  on  terms  which  they  regard 
as  unsatisfactory.  The  ''six-power"  groups  do  not  con- 
stitute a  monopoly  but  they  are  not  willing  to  undertake 
any  loan  unless  assured  that  they  will  be  entitled  to  furnish 
on  sound  conditions  funds  to  complete  the  transactions,  the 
initiation  of  which  they  finance,  and  that  they  shall  have  a 
clear  market  until  the  different  loan  series  for  which  they 
contract  are  sold. 

For  the  sake  of  the  preservation  of  China's  integrity  and 
the  commercial  "open  door"  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  some 
mutually  satisfactory  understanding  may  be  reached  between 
China  and  the  "six-power"  group.  It  is  to  China's  interest 
that  this  combination  should  be  maintained,  and  it  is  to  the 
interest  of  China  as  well  as  of  the  United  States,  that  we  should 
retain  our  present  position  therein.  China's  great  problem 
to-day  is  that  of  finance.  It  is  to  her  advantage  that  we 
are  entitled  to  a  practical  voice  in  its  solution,  and  it  is  to  the 
advantage  of  American  trade  that  the  United  States  con- 
tinue to  be  an  active  party  in  Chinese  loan  negotiations. 

Supplementary  Note 

Although  the  agreement  for  the  Reorganization  Loan  was  on 
the  point  of  signature  early  in  February,  developments  since 
that  time  have  caused  a  further  postponement  of  the  conclu- 
sion of  this  transaction. 


15S  WILLARD   STRAIGHT 

The  terms  agreed  upon  by  the  Chinese  government  and  the 
bankers  are  substantially  those  outlined  in  the  foregoing 
pages.  The  purposes  for  which  the  money  is  to  be  expended 
were  specified  by  the  Chinese  government  and  deemed  satis- 
factory by  the  bankers. 

Provision  has  been  made  in  the  loan  agreement  to  ensure 
the  expenditure  of  borrowed  funds  for  these  specified  pur- 
poses. The  Chinese  government  has  itself  established  an 
Andit  Department  and  engaged  to  appoint  a  competent 
foreigner  to  introduce  an  effective  system  of  accounting, 
while  a  Bureau  of  Foreign  Loans  will  also  be  created  which 
will,  like  the  Audit  Department,  be  under  the  direction  of  a 
foreign  employee  of  the  Chinese  government. 

The  proposed  agreement  also  stipulates  that  the  Chinese 
government  shall  appoint  a  foreigner  who  shall  act  jointly 
with  the  Chinese  Director  General  of  the  Salt  Administra- 
tion and  provision  is  made  for  the  appointment  of  foreign 
and  Chinese  district  inspectors,  who  shall  have  charge  of  the 
salt  production,  the  sale  of  this  commodity  to  the  salt  mer- 
chants and  the  collection  of  the  salt  revenues,  which  it  is  stip- 
ulated shall  be  deposited  with  the  group  banks  until  provision 
is  made  for  the  service  of  the  loan.  The  loan  agreement  also 
contains  a  pro\'ision,  which,  if  the  six  groups  undertake  the 
reorganization  loan,  will  protect  the  market  therefor  until  it 
has  been  issued  in  entirety. 

The  negotiations  resulting  in  the  preparation  of  the  agree- 
ment outlined  above  were  undertaken  by  the  banks  on  the 
understanding  that  the  Chinese  government  would  appoint 
foreigners  to  the  positions  mentioned  and  would  satisfy  the 
six  legations  in  Peking  that  these  employees  would  be  en- 
gaged under  contracts  which  would  enable  them  to  render 
effective  service. 

The  Chinese  government  on  the  night  before  it  was  ex- 
pected that  the  loan  agreement  would  be  signed  nominated 
a  Dane  for  the  Salt  Administration,  an  Italian  for  the  Audit 
Department,  and  a  German  for  the  Loan  Bureau.  Certain 
of  the  interested  governments  desired  that  these  foreign 
employees  should  be  of  the  nationality  of  the  lending  bank- 
ers.   These  points  were  raised  at  the  last  moment  and  re- 


china's  loan  negotiations  159 

quired  a  month  to  adjust  between  the  various  governments 
concerned.  The  program  agreed  upon  by  the  six  govern- 
ments was  submitted  to  the  Chinese  government  early  in 
March  and  refused  by  the  Chinese.  At  the  time  of  writing, 
however,  negotiations  are  still  in  progress  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  a  mutually  satisfactory  arrangement  will  soon 
be  reached. 

Editorial  Note 

Since  Mr.  Straight  completed  this  article,  the  American 
Banking  Group  has  definitely  withdrawn  from  further  parti- 
cipation in  the  Six  Power  loan  negotiations,  due  to  Presi- 
dent's Wilson's  refusal  to  continue  the  moral  support  of 
the  Government.  The  following  are  the  official  explana- 
tions of  the  attitude  of  the  Administration  and  of  the  Ameri- 
can group  respectively.  President  Wilson  gave  this  state- 
ment to  the  press: 

We  are  informed  that,  at  the  request  of  the  last  administration, 
a  certain  group  of  American  bankers  undertook  to  participate  in 
the  loan  now  desired  by  the  government  of  China  (approximately 
$125,000,000).  Our  government  wished  American  bankers  to 
participate  along  with  the  bankers  of  other  nations,  because  it 
desired  that  the  good  will  of  the  United  States  toward  China  should 
be  exhibited  in  this  practical  way;  that  American  capital  should 
have  access  to  that  great  country  and  that  .the  United  States  should 
be  in  a  position  to  share  with  the  other  powers  any  political  respon- 
sibilities that  might  be  associated  with  the  development  of  the 
foreign  relations  of  China  in  connection  with  their  industrial  and 
commercial  enterprises.  The  present  administration  has  been  asked 
by  this  group  of  bankers  whether  it  would  also  request  them  to 
participate  in  the  loan. 

The  representatives  of  the  bankers  through  whom  the  adminis- 
tration was  approached  declared  that  they  would  continue  to  seek 
their  share  of  the  loan  under  the  proposed  agreements  only  if 
expressly  requested  to  do  so  by  the  government.  The  adminis- 
tration has  declined  to  make  such  request  because  it  did  not  ap- 
prove the  conditions  of  the  loan  or  the  implications  of  responsibility 
on  its  own  part  which  it  was  plainly  told  would  be  involved  in  the 
request. 

The  conditions  of  the  loan  seem  to  us  to  touch  very  nearly  the 
administrative  independence  of  China  itself;  and  this  administra- 
tion does  not  feel  that  it  ought,  even  by  implication,  to  be  a  party 
to  those  conditions.  The  responsibility  on  its  part  which  would  be 
implied  in  requesting  the  bankers  to  undertake  the  loan  might 
conceivably  go  the  length  in  some  unhappy  contingence  of  forcible 


100  WILLIARD    STRAIGHT 

intt^rforonco  in  the  financial,  and  even  the  political  affairs  of  that 
groat  Oriental  state,  just  now  awakening  to  a  consciousness  of  its 
power  and  of  its  obligations  to  its  people. 

The  contlitions  include  not  only  the  pledging  of  particular  taxes, 
some  of  tiieni  antiquated  and  burdensome,  to  secure  the  loan,  but 
also  the  administration  of  these  taxes  by  foreign  agents.  The 
responsibility  on  the  part  of  our  government  implied  in  the  en- 
couragement of  a  loan  thus  secured  and  administered  is  plain 
enough  and  is  obnoxious  to  the  principles  upon  which  the  govern- 
ment of  our  people  rests. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  is  not  only  willing,  but 
earnestly  desirous  of  aiding  the  great  Chinese  people  in  every  way 
that  is  consistent  with  their  untrammeled  development  and  its 
ow^l  immemorial  principles.  The  awakening  of  the  people  of  China 
to  a  consciousness  of  their  possibilities  under  free  government  is 
the  most  significant  if  not  the  most  momentous  event  of  our 
generation. 

With  this  movement  and  aspiration  the  American  people  are  in 
profound  sj^mpathy.  They  certainly  wish  to  participate  and 
participate  very  generously,  in  opening  to  the  Chinese  and  to  the 
use  of  the  world  the  almost  untouched  and  perhaps  unrivalled 
resources  of  China. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  is  earnestly  desirous  of 
promoting  the  most  extended  and  intimate  trade  relationships 
between  this  country  and  the  Chinese  republic.  The  present 
administration  will  urge  and  support  the  legislative  measures  nec- 
essary to  give  American  merchants,  manufacturers,  contractors  and 
engineers,  the  banking  facilities  which  they  now  lack  and  without 
which  they  are  at  a  serious  disadvantage  as  compared  with  their 
industrial  and  commercial  rivals.  This  is  its  duty.  This  is  the 
main  material  interest  of  its  citizens  in  the  development  of  China. 

Our  interests  are  those  of  the  open  door — a  door  of  friendship  and 
mutual  advantage.     This  is  the  only  door  we  care  to  enter. 

The  following  was  handed  to  the  press  by  the  American 
group,  March  19: 

The  American  Group,  consisting  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  Kuhn, 
Loeb  &  Co.,  The  First  National  Bank  and  the  National  City  Bank, 
was  formed  in  the  spring  of  1909,  upon  the  expressed  desire  of  the 
Department  of  State  that  a  financial  group  be  organized  to  take  up 
the  participation  to  which  American  capital  was  entitled  in  the 
Hukuang  Railway  Loan  Agreement,  then  under  negotiation  by  the 
British,  French  and  German  banking  groups. 

This  group  thus  became  interested  in  Chinese  Loan  matters,  not 
primarily  for  its  own  profit,  but  for  purposes  indicated  by  President 
Taft  and  Secretary  Knox.  As  stated  in  President  Taft's  message 
to  Congress  of  December  1909,  these  purposes,  in  effect,  called 
for  the  co-operation  of  the  bankers  as  the  "indispensable  instru- 
mentality" which  the  American  Goverimient  needed  to  enable  it 


CHINA  S    LOAN    NEGOTIATIONS  161 

"to  carry  out  a  practical  and  real  application  of  the  open  door 
policy."  The  Department  of  State  considered  that  American  co- 
operation with  the  Banking  Groups  of  the  several  great  powers 
enabled  the  United  States  to  exercise  a  practical  voice  in  China's 
affairs  and  constituted  the  best  guarantee  for  the  preservation  of 
China's  integrity. 

In  pursuance  of  the  policy  so  advocated,  the  American  Group, 
with  the  Administration's  approval,  entered  into  an  agreement 
with  the  British,  French  and  German  Groups  for  the  purpose  of 
rendering  financial  assistance  to  China.  In  February  1912  these 
four  groups  at  the  request  of  their  respective  Governments  and  with 
the  consent  of  the  Chinese  Government,  admitted  Russian  and 
Japanese  financial  groups  to  the  negotiations  for  the  Reorganiza- 
tion Loan,  thus  constituting  what  has  since  been  known  as  the 
Six  Power  Group. 

Following  the  revolution  and  despite  the  fact  that  the  authority 
of  the  new  Republic  had  not  been  generally  accepted,  the  American 
Group  joined  with  the  other  groups  in  making  to  the  Provisional 
Government  substantial  advances  to  enable  it  more  firmly  to 
establish  its  authority  and  to  restore  normal  conditions  through- 
out the  country. 

Meanwhile  there  had  been  in  negotiation,  during  a  period  of 
many  months,  a  loan  agreement  which,  in  its  general  terms, 
appeared  last  month  to  meet  the  approval  of  the  Six  Governments, 
of  their  banking  groups,  and  the  Chinese  Government,  and  to  be 
ready  for  signature. 

These  terms  were  intended  to  cover  two  points.  The  first 
was  to  enable  the  Chinese  Government  to  reorganize  its  adminis- 
tration on  an  effective  modern  basis,  to  pay  off  its  large  outstand- 
ing debts  and  build  up  Chinese  credit.  The  second  was  to  protect 
the  interests  of  American  and  European  investors.  For  such 
protection,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Governments  and  the  Groups, 
the  only  method  was  to  ensure,  despite  any  possible  recurrence  of 
political  unrest  in  China,  the  proper  expenditure  of  the  funds 
loaned  to  China  and  to  safe-guard  the  handling  of  the  revenues 
pledged  for  principle  and  interest  of  the  bonds. 

As  announced  in  the  statement  given  to  the  press  yesterday 
the  present  Administration  at  Washington,  with  a  desire  to  be  of 
assistance  to  China  and  to  promote  American  interests  in  the  Far 
East,  has  decided  that  these  purposes  may  better  be  served  by  the 
adoption  of  a  different  and  independent  policy.  As  the  American 
Group  had  been  ready  to  serve  the  Administration  in  the  past,  ir- 
respective of  the  heavy  risks  involved,  so  it  was  disposed  to  serve 
the  present  Administration  if  so  requested.  But  deferring  to 
the  policy  now  declared,  the  Group  has  withdrawn  entirely  from 
the  Chinese  Loan  negotiations  and  has  so  advised  the  European 
and  Japanese  banking  groups. 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  RETURNED  STUDENTS 
TO  THE  CHINESE  REVOLUTION 

By  Y.  S.  Tsao,  Secretary  of  the  Chinese  Students'  Alliance  in 

America 

It  is  not  without  a  considerable  amount  of  misgiving  that 
the  writer  ventures  to  trace  the  relation  between  the  returned 
students  and  the  recent  revolution,  as  his  residence  in  Amer- 
ica might  lead  him  into  partial  statements  in  favor  of  the 
returned  students  from  this  country  or  the  underestimation 
of  the  role  played  by  those  from  Europe  or  Japan.  Moreover 
the  topic  called  for  specific  treatment  to  the  exclusion  of 
generalizations,  so  it  is  the  aim  of  this  paper  to  study  the 
returned  students  from  a  subjective  standpoint  at  the  out- 
set, to  be  followed  by  concrete  and  typical  illustrations  of  the 
part  played  by  the  returned  students  from  the  several  coun- 
tries. 

It  might  be  well,  at  the  beginning,  to  divide  the  returned 
students  into  two  main  groups,  namely  those  from  Europe 
and  America  and  those  from  Japan.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  by  far  the  largest  part  of  the  recent  revolution,  was 
accomplished  by  the  returned  students  from  Japan  by  \'irtue 
of  their  numerical  strength  and  for  other  reasons  to  be 
accounted  for  later  on.  On  the  whole,  all  the  returned  stu- 
dents, wherever  they  hail  from  and  whatever  political  views 
they  hold  are  destined  to  play  the  part  of  leaders  on  account 
of  their  superior  training  and  breadth  of  vision.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  America  has  5  per  cent  college  men  and  they 
will  eventually  become  the  leaders  of  the  nation  for  even 
if  they  do  not  all  become  men  of  great  influence,  they  will 
always  be  looked  up  to  in  every  community  as  leaders  of 
public  opinion  for  the  same  reasons.  Only  in  the  case  of  the 
Chinese  students  they  have  better  opportunities  of  dupli- 
cating themselves  in  this  rapid  transitory  period  of  China's 
history. 

162 


returned  students  and  chinese  revolution    163 

Influence   of  Western  Education   for  Reformation 
AND  Revolution 

A  recent  writer  has  observed  pithily  that  if  you  change  the 
ideas  of  the  Chinese  their  policy  will  change,  which  is  no 
more  and  no  less  than  granting  our  people  with  the  credit 
for  being  rational.  Of  the  many  factors  leading  to  the 
modification  or  reversal  of  ideas  the  influence  of  western 
education  has  achieved  the  most  far-reaching  results.  The 
contrast  between  the  social,  economic,  political  and  reli- 
gious institutions  of  the  West  and  those  of  the  East  is  too 
obvious  to  escape  the  attention  of  even  the  most  unobserving 
student.  While  much  of  the  good  in  the  old  institutions 
should  be  conserved,  every  student  cannot  but  desire  to 
see  the  adoption  of  many  modern  ideas  that  have  been  slowly 
developed  in  the  west.  This  is  strictly  true  to  the  students 
who  have  left  China  for  a  stay  of  from  five  to  eight  years  of 
study  in  a  foreign  land  during  the  formative  period  of  their/ 
lives.  The  experience  of  living  in  a  different  atmosphere  is 
interesting  and  the  impression  correspondingly  deep.  In  a 
word,  they  form  a  bridge  across  the  broad  expanse  of  seas, 
on  which  new  learning,  new  ideals  and  new  institutions  are 
constantly  conveyed  to  China.  Fully  saturated  with  new 
ideas  and  ideals,  filled  with  the  zeal  of  new  ambitions  and 
aspirations  and  kindled  by  a  new  sense  of  patriotism  as  a 
result  of  travel,  these  liberated  individuals  return  to  do  and 
dare.  From  this  very  spirit  the  seed  of  revolution  is  bound 
to  germinate.  In  the  early  seventies,  some  one  hundred  and 
twenty  students  were  brought  over  to  America  by  Dr.  Yung 
Wing  of  Yale  for  a  course  of  twelve  years'  training  but  they 
were  recalled  in  1881  being  accused  for  harbouring  revolu- 
tionary ambitions.  The  apprehensive  Manchu  government 
was  not  far  from  the  truth. 

Another  important  factor  which  helped  immensely  to 
develop  the  revolutionary  spirit  was  the  recent  political  his- 
tory of  China,  both  nationally  and  internationally.  Ever 
since  the  China-Japan  war,  the  country  has  been  in  a  state 
of  unrest.  The  reverses  of  that  war  caused  a  rude  awaken- 
ing and  the  late  Emperor  Kwang-Hsu  with  the  assistance  of 


164  Y.    S.    TSAO 

the  reform  party  headed  by  Kwang  Yu  Wei  and  Liang  Chi 
Chao  decreed  such  a  series  of  ultra-radical  reforms  that  it 
soon  resulted  in  the  famous  coup  d'6tat.  This  reaction 
blindly  led  to  the  painful  experience  of  1900  but  when  the 
!Manchurian  leaders  of  the  Boxers  were  banished  from  the 
court,  the  pendulum  began  to  sweep  back  and  the  cause  of 
reform  again  developed  a  brighter  prospect.  The  late  Em- 
press Dowager  was  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  reform  and 
she  had  the  direction  of  Yuan  Shih  Kai  who  as  the  Viceroy 
of  Chili  carried  out  a  very  successful  series  of  reform  measures. 
However,  the  pendulum  reached  the  limit  at  the  deaths  of 
the  Empress  Dowager  and  the  Emperor  when  Yuan  Shih 
Kai  and  Tuan  Fang,  the  two  most  promising  statesmen  of 
the  day,  fell.  Since  then,  the  retrogression  was  rapid.  The 
people  agitated  for  an  immediate  parliament  but  the  govern- 
ment resisted  the  demand  stubbornly.  With  this  public 
disappointment,  with  the  vacillating  and  insincere  policy 
of  the  government,  with  the  ever  present  economic  factor 
of  industrial  revolution  and  non-employment,  plague,  fam- 
ine and  financial  stringency,  all  the  symptoms  of  a  revolution 
were  present.  Added  to  all  these,  internationally,  there 
were  the  constant  acts  of  aggression  in  the  form  of  wanton 
grabbing  of  territory  and  provoked  and  unprovoked  military 
demonstrations  on  our  frontiers.  So  since  1910,  the  bubbling 
cauldron  of  discontent  and  impatience  was  ready  to  boil  over 
at  any  moment.  Under  such  conditions,  the  returned  stu- 
dents as  representatives  of  advanced  thought  could  not  but 
ascribe  such  consequences  to  the  existing  political  corrup- 
tions and  diplomatic  blunders  and  wishing  sincerely  for  a 
better  state  of  affairs,  not  a  few  of  them  raised  the  cry,  "On 
to  Peking!" 

When  the  students  returned  from  America  in  the  early 
eighties,  they  were  despised,  suspected  and  watched  by  the 
officers  of  the  Manchu  government  For  the  first  few  years, 
they  were  given  a  thorough  drilling  in  Chinese  literature 
so  as  to  win  them  over  to  the  conservative  attitude  of  look- 
ing at  things  and  when  sufficiently  purged  of  their  revolu- 
tionary ideas,  they  were  left  to  shift  for  themselves  for  the 
government  had  no  use  for  such  "semi-foreigners."     But 


RETURNED   STUDENTS   AND   CHINESE   REVOLUTION      165 

beginning  with  the  reformation  after  the  China-Japan  war, 
a  number  of  reformers  from  the  old  school  went  to  court  as 
advisers  and  not  a  few  returned  students  from  America  were 
given  appointments  by  high  officials.  However,  it  was  not 
until  after  the  Boxer  uprising  that  a  number  of  them  through 
the  recommendation  of  Yuan  Shih  Kai  were  given  respon- 
sible positions  in  the  government.  Among  them  were  the 
ex-secretary  of  state,  Liang  Tung  Yen,  the  ex-premier,  Tang 
Shao  Yi,  Admiral  San  Chen  Ping,  ex-minister  Wu  Ting  Fang, 
Sir  Liang  Cheng,  Railroad  Director  Liang  Mun  Ting,  Chief 
Engineer  Jeme  Tien  Yu,  etc. 

The  prospect  of  a  successful  reformation  was  quite  evident 
while  Yuan  Shih  Kai  remained  in  power  with  the  students 
giving  suggestions  and  rendering  very  creditable  service. 
Modern  systems  of  police,  of  popular  education,  of  judiciary 
and  army  were  organized;  railway  management  was  sys- 
tematized, foreign  relations  improved  and  a  constitution 
recommended.  Several  military  maneuvers  were  held  and 
foreign  critics  were  actually  discussing  the  ever-recurrent 
bug-bear  of  ''Yellow-Peril."  This  state  of  affairs  was  too 
good  for  the  Manchus  for  they  could  not  follow  the  course  of 
development  intelligently,  so  ere  long  ''the  strong  man  of 
China"  was  degraded  and  with  him  a  number  of  pains- 
taking returned  students.  Once  placed  in  responsible  posi- 
tions, they  saw  the  hopeless  way  the  insincere  government 
had  been  hood-winking  the  whole  nation  and  at  once  enter- 
tained revolutionary  ideas  to  upset  the  whole  government 
and  build  a  new  structure  in  its  place. 

The  Educational  Revolution 

The  abolit'.on  of  the  old  imperial  literary  examinations 
was  succeeded  by  the  new  educational  system  based  upon  the 
Japanese  and  American  institutions.  It  emphasized  a  lib- 
eral scientific  education.  When  the  many  forms  of  schools 
sprang  up  throughout  the  nation  like  mushrooms,  there 
was  a  great  dearth  of  modern  teachers.  For  a  time  the 
scholars  of  the  old  school  attempted  to  supply  the  demand 
but  as  the  curriculum  was  so  up-to-date,  they  found  the 


166  Y.    S.    TSAO 

desires  of  the  students  to  be  above  their  ability  to  satisfy. 
Indeed,  many  of  these  teachers  devoured  all  forms  of  modern 
text-books  and  translated  literature  so  that  for  the  primary 
and  middle  grades  they  taught  with  fair  success,  but  the 
more  advanced  students  became  uncontrollable  which 
accounted  for  the  innumerable  strikes  and  lock-outs.  This 
unsatisfactory  state  of  affairs  together  with  the  recent  suc- 
cesses of  Japan  in  her  war  with  Russia,  induced  the  govern- 
ment to  send  thousands  of  students  to  Japan.  At  one  time, 
the  exodus  reached  15,000  and  Japan  had  to  open  special 
institutions  to  accommodate  them. 

In  the  meantime,  the  government  demanded  more  up- 
to-date  officials  and  following  the  traditional  method  of 
testing  them,  competitive  examinations  were  held  for  the 
returned  students.  The  successful  candidates  were  conferred 
the  same  honorary  degrees  according  to  the  old  nomencla- 
ture of  *'Hanlin"  (doctor  of  philosophy),  *'Chin-shih" 
and  "  Juren."  This  recognition  of  the  returned  students  on 
the  part  of  the  government  increased  their  influence  and 
prestige  throughout  the  whole  educational  world.  While 
large  numbers  of  the  students  in  schools  aspired  to  be  edu- 
cated abroad,  the  greater  part  had  to  be  satisfied  by  being 
taught  by  the  returned  students  whose  direct  influence  upon 
this  new  student  class  proved  to  be  a  very  potent  factor 
for  the  revolution. 

While  the  handful  of  returned  students  from  Europe  and 
America  were  busy  occupying  themselves  with  official  life, 
teaching  and  engineering,  a  few  of  them  translated  the  works 
of  John  Stuart  Mill,  Huxley,  Spencer,  Darwin,  Henry 
George  and  other  modern  writers.  ''The  doctrine  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest  has  been  on  the  lips  of  every  thinking 
Chinese,  and  its  grim  significance  is  not  lost  on  a  nation  that 
seems  to  be  the  center  of  struggle  in  the  Far  East."  How- 
ever, the  greater  part  of  the  modern  ideas  came  from  Japan 
through  the  students  there  who  after  a  few  months  of  train- 
ing could  easily  transcribe  Japanese  translations  of  western 
books  into  Chinese.  The  rapid  multiplication  of  patriotic 
newspapers  and  magazines  helped  immensely  to  dissemi- 
nate modern  political  ideas  along  with  scientific  knowledge 


RETURNED   STUDENTS   AND   CHINESE   REVOLUTION      167 

throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  nation.  The  biog- 
raphies of  such  statesmen  as  Washington,  Bismark,  Met- 
ternich  and  Gladstone,  such  leaders  as  Napoleon,  Cromwell 
and  Lincoln,  such  patriots  as  Mazzini,  Garibaldi  were  liter- 
ally devoured.  The  doctrines  of  Rousseau,  Montesquieux 
and  Voltaire  were  expounded  and  a  weekly  known  as  The 
People  based  upon  the  principles  of  ''Young  Italy"  was 
started.  It  had  a  circulation  of  150,000  before  it  was  finally 
suppressed  by  the  Japanese  government  upon  the  request 
of  the  Manchu  government. 

The  publication  of  radical  papers  and  magazines  liberated 
the  individuals  and  inspired  a  new  national  feeling.  Patriot- 
ism developed  a  new  significance  and  nationalism  bred 
impatience  and  self-assertion.  Constitutionalism  and  repub- 
licariism  were  keenly  discussed.  Liberty,  Equality  and 
Fraternity  was  the  slogan  of  the  day.  According  to  a  Japan- 
ese writer,  ''Every  mother's  son  of  the  returned  students 
from  Japan  is  a  cheerful,  reckless,  vociferous,  flaming  torch 
for  the  revolutionary  movement." 

Intense  patriotism  and  the  realization  of  political  dangers 
at  once  reversed  the  old  adage  of  "Good  iron  is  not  used  for 
making  nails  and  good  men  are  not  meant  for  the  soldiery." 
Many  students  joined  military  institutions  at  home  and 
several  hundreds  of  them  went  to  Japan  and  Germany  for 
such  training  of  their  own  accord  and  often  against  their 
parent's  wishes.  Many  of  them  were  supported  by  the 
Manchu  government  and  it  was  the  insincerity  of  which 
finally  turned  them  against  it  and  destroyed  it. 

With  the  revolutionary  spirit  in  the  atmosphere,  the  earlier 
reformers  and  revolutionaries  saw  their  opportunities.  There 
existed  at  least,  three  distinct  parties.  The  first  aimed 
to  preserve  the  Empire  which  meant  the  restoration  of  Em- 
peror Kwang  Hsu's  reform  program;  the  second  desired 
to  see  the  early  adoption  of  the  constitutional  government; 
and  the  third  had  their  object  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
alien  dynasty.  The  leaders  of  the  first  two  parties,  Kang 
Yu  Wei  and  Liang  Chi  Chiao  obtained  some  funds  and  sup- 
port from  the  Chinese  settlers  abroad  but  it  was  Dr.  Sun 
Yat  Sen  who  as  the  leader  of  the  republican  movement 


168  Y.    S.    TSAO 

captivated  a  large  number  of  students  in  Japan  by  the  organ- 
ization of  the  "Tung  Men  Hwei." 

The  aim  of  the  said  "Tung  Men  Hwei"  society  was  to 
alienate  the  feelings  of  the  people  and  to  stir  up  a  revolution 
against  the  Manchu  government.  The  weekly  called  The 
People  was  published  by  them  which  contained  articles 
depicting  the  corruption,  tyranny  and  impotence  of  the 
Manchus.  It  was  a  short-lived  paper  for  the  Japanese 
government,  seeking  to  strengthen  her  friendship  with  China, 
suppressed  it.  Another  department  of  the  "Tung  Men 
Hwei"  was  called  the  "Kung  Ching"  which  undertook  to 
send  agents  to  the  various  provinces  of  China  to  convert  the 
officers  and  soldiers  to  become  revolutionaries,  while  others 
were  sent  to  the  Chinese  settlements  to  raise  funds  for  the 
same  cause.  They  also  manufactured  bombs  and  threatened 
to  kill  those  soldiers  who  refused  to  join  them.  Among  these, 
Hwang  Shing,  Liu  King  and  Sun  Wu  were  the  greatest  lead- 
ers. In  Europe  and  America,  there  were  no  special  organi- 
zations of  that  character.  Quite  a  few,  however,  were  mem- 
bers of  the  "Tung  Men  Hwei." 

In  Europe,  a  revolutionary  publication  called  Le  Nouveau 
Siecle  was  published  at  Paris,  but  no  secret  organization 
was  known  to  exist. 

Preliminary  Plots  Under  the  Direction  of  Students 

Previous  to  the  revolution  of  October  11,  1911,  several 
preliminary  plots  were  attempted  under  returned  student 
leadership.  The  earliest  one  on  record  was  in  1900,  directly 
after  the  Boxer  uprising,  when  Dr.  Yung  Wing  was  elected 
president  of  a  secret  organization  at  Shanghai,  consisting  of 
leading  officials,  merchants  and  students  who  were  exasper- 
ated at  the  most  stupid  political  blunder  of  the  Manchu 
government  in  making  use  of  patriotic  fanaticism  as  a  means 
of  stemming  the  onslaught  of  western  nations.  This  plot  was 
soon  detected  and  ever  after  Dr.  Yung  Wing  lived  an  exile 
at  Hartford,  Connecticut  until  his  death  last  year. 

In  1907,  there  was  a  plot  at  Ping  Shang  in  Anhui  Province; 
in  1909,  the  Governor  of  Anhui  was  assassinated  at  An 


RETURNED   STUDENTS   AND   CHINESE    REVOLUTION      169 

King;  in  1910  a  plot  was  unearthed  at  Canton.  Many- 
returned  students  and  bright  young  men  sacrificed  their 
lives  in  these  attempts;  but  repeated  failure  only  helped  to 
arouse  the  public  sentiment  of  the  people  and  contributed 
to  popularise  revolutionary  actions. 

It  was  generally  admitted,  however,  that  the  Szechuan 
riot  had  no  other  signification  than  a  movement  against  the 
nationalization  of  railways  and  that  of  Changsha  was  a 
protest  against  the  rice  monopoly.  No  one  has  been  able 
to  ascertain  the  object  of  the  bomb  thrown  at  the  five  com- 
missioners when  they  started  from  Peking  to  investigate 
into  the  constitutional  governments  of  the  world.  The 
fear  that  the  adoption  of  a  constitution  by  the  Manchu 
government  might  defeat  the  cause  of  the  anti-Manchu 
movement  has  been  considered  as  the  most  plausible  inter- 
pretation. There  is  no  necessity  for  us  to  analyze  all  these 
preliminary  plots.  Suffice  it  to  say,  the  ramifications  of  the 
secret  societies  were  rapidly  being  extended  throughout  the 
country. 

The  leaders  of  the  revolution  intended  to  start  it  simul- 
taneously in  eight  provinces,  four  months  later  than  the 
actual  date  of  the  outbreak.  The  modus  operandi  and  the 
personnel  were  fully  prepared;  proclamations  for  the  public 
and  badges  for  adherents  were  made;  secret  parties  were 
traveling  about  winning  sympathizers  and  supporters. 
General  Hwang  Shing  at  Hankow,  General  Wu  Loh-tsunof 
the  Northern  Army,  Liu  King  and  Sun  Wu  at  Wuchang  and 
Chen  Ki  Mei  at  Shanghai  were  the  chief  leaders  from  Japan. 
General  Li  Yuan  Hung  from  Japan  played  the  most  impor- 
tant part,  but  he  was  forced  to  join  by  the  soldiery. 

Very  few  students  from  Europe  and  America  were  members 
of  the  "Tung  Men  Hwei,"  and  judging  from  their  actions 
only  Mr.  C.  T.  Wang,  Drs.  Chen  Hui  Wang  and  Chintao 
Chen  from  Yale  were  the  only  possible  ones,  while  the  rest 
were  taken  by  surprise. 

Not  counting  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  Dr.  Wu  Ting  Fang  was 
the  first  returned  student  from  England  or  America  who 
joined  the  revolutionary  cause  at  a  critical  moment,  and  he 
was  supported  in  the  revolutionary  camp  by  many  returned 


170  Y.    S.    TSAO 

students  from  Europe  and  America.  Some  of  them  joined 
the  Red  Cross  Society  as  M.  D.  T.  Yu  of  Harvard  and  Yang 
PaoHng  of  Purdue,  while  twenty  of  them  returned  from  Amer- 
ica to  take  an  active  part  in  fighting.  For  example,  T.  S.  Ma 
of  Columbia  and  E.  M.  Ho  of  Chicago  University. 

In  passing,  we  must  not  fail  to  mention  how  the  success  of 
the  revolution  was  in  a  great  measure  due  to  the  sympathy 
of  foreign  nations.  Judging  from  past  experiences,  upris- 
ings in  China  were  always  associated  in  the  minds  of  men 
with  imminent  danger  to  foreign  lives  and  property;  but 
during  the  last  revolution,  foreigners  were  most  scrupulously 
protected,  which  fact  won  for  the  revolutionists,  the  con- 
fidence of  the  world,  as  it  was  clear  evidence  of  intelligent 
leadership  and  superior  organization. 

It  will  be  in  order,  perhaps,  to  give  a  comparative  esti- 
mate of  the  parts  played  by  the  two  groups  of  students  show- 
ing w^hy  those  from  Japan  were  more  energetic  and  revolu- 
tionary. The  charge  has  been  made  against  the  returned 
students  from  Europe  and  America  of  being  materialistic 
and  self-seeking,  and  this  charge  has  been  repeated  by  some 
of  the  students  themselves.  Why  more  students  in  America 
did  not  join  in  the  revolutionary  movement  before  the  revo- 
lution? The  answer,  I  believe,  is  better  made  by  presenting 
the  causes  and  circumstances  which  made  the  students  in 
Japan  so  radically  revolutionary. 

First  of  all,  the  chief  cause  was  the  environment.  With 
some  15,000  students  located  in  the  few  educational  centers 
of  Japan;  with  a  steady  stream  of  political  news  from  China; 
with  numerous  organizations  for  discussion,  wdth  lively 
topics  furnished  by  the  revolutionary  organs  as  the  magazine 
— The  New  People — published  by  Liang  Chi  Chiao  and  The 
People  by  the  ''Tung  Men  Hwei,"  the  revolutionary  spirit 
was  carefully  nurtured.  Moreover,  the  Chinese  students 
could  master  the  Japanese  language  in  a  few  months,  and  as 
the  curriculum  was  elementary,  it  was  not  too  difficult  for 
them.  So  that  much  of  their  time  was  spent  discussing 
pohtical  questions  and  transcribing  such  views  into  Chinese 
for  publication  at  home.  Furthermore,  this  grouping  to- 
gether of  a  large  body  of  young  men  with  similar  political 


RETURNED   STUDENTS   AND   CHINESE   REVOLUTION      171 

views  made  them  feel  the  power  of  union,  as  the  mob  psychol- 
ogist would  say.  That  is  why  in  California,  Hawaii,  Singa- 
pore and  Java  the  like  spirit  is  seen. 

Secondly:  they  were  mostly  older  students  of  the  old 
school  and  well  versed  in  Chinese  literature.  The  Japanese 
curriculum  offers  courses  on  modern  Chinese  history,  giving 
the  details  of  the  Manchurian  conquest  which  would  natu- 
rally tend  to  stir  up  anti-dynastic  feelings.  Moreover,  the 
Japanese  friends  of  China  who  still  reverence  the  past  his- 
tory of  China  did  advise,  time  and  again,  for  the  restoration 
of  the  government  to  the  Chinese  proper.  During  the  time 
of  the  Boxer  uprising,  quite  a  number  of  Japanese  writers 
counseled  for  the  assassination  of  the  imperial  family  while 
fleeing  to  Shensi.  Besides,  undoubtely  the  ultra-radical  pro- 
pensities and  the  military  atmosphere  of  Japan  exerted  a 
great  influence  upon  the  temperament  of  these  earnest 
students.  So  likewise,  the  liberal  atmosphere  of  France 
instilled  revolutionary  ideas  and  military  Germany  gave  a 
martial  spirit  to  students  studying  in  those  two  countries. 

Lastly:  Japan's  high-handed  actions  in  Korea  and  Man- 
churia together  with  the  general  attitude  of  the  Japanese 
towards  the  Chinese,  stirred  their  blood  to  boiling  point, 
while  a  study  of  Japan's  recent  history,  dates  their  modern 
era  of  progress  to  the  restoration  of  the  Meiji  House.  Hence, 
their  logical  deduction  led  them  to  pin  their  faith  upon  a 
revolution  for  a  new  China.  By  tracing  the  transition  of 
medieval  Japan  into  modern  Japan  they  could  almost  map 
out  step  by  step  the  course  China  should  take;  but  the  first 
step  according  to  their  conception,  was  a  change  of  govern- 
ment. Besides,  a  large  number  of  them  were  poor  and  had  to 
undergo  a  great  deal  of  hardship  and  privation.  Loving 
their  fatherland  strongly,  desiring  to  save  her  from  a  great 
national  calamity  and  having  nothing  to  lose  personally, 
they  became  a  vociferous,  destructive  and  desperately  revo- 
lutionary body  of  men. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  Europe  and  America,  the  handful  of 
students  was  scattered  over  large  areas;  news  from  home  was 
scanty  with  long  intervals  between;  the  difficulties  with  the 
language  and  the  exacting  curriculum  occupied  much  of 


172  Y.    S.    TSAO 

their  time;  there  were  no  revolutionary  organizations  or 
organs  to  furnish  exciting  topics  for  discussion.  When 
authentic  news  arrived,  it  was  about  a  month  old  and  later 
developments  might  have  already  changed  the  situation, 
with  the  result  that  students  could  only  speculate  as  to  the 
outcome.  That  was  wiiy  the  students  in  Japan  sent  far 
more  telegrams  to  the  Government  advising  certain  courses 
of  action  on  great  political  issues  than  did  the  students  in 
Europe  and  America. 

In  the  second  place,  most  of  the  students  here  are  younger 
and  the  technical  courses  taken  by  a  large  number  of  them 
in  engineering,  agriculture  and  other  professional  studies, 
are  not  conducive  to  revolutionary  conceptions.  The  wide 
difference  in  languages  and  comparatively  poorer  scholar- 
ship in  Chinese  literature,  make  it  impossible  to  transcribe 
any  of  our  new  ideas  readily  into  Chinese  for  publication  in 
China.  Then,  the  local  political  conditions  pursue  an  even 
tenor,  the  commercial  spirit  is  transcendent,  and  the  con- 
structive element  is  baspd  upon  educational,  social  and  reli- 
gious reformation. 

No  professors  or  friends  were  sufficiently  versed  in  Chinese 
literature  and  history  to  advise  a  revolution  which  might 
endanger  the  lives  and  property  of  all  their  missionary  friends 
and  other  foreign  residents  in  China.  The  Christian  influ- 
ence and  missionarj^  interest  point  to  a  goal  of  evolutionary 
development  and  Christian  service  to  our  country.  Under 
such  circumstances,  in  our  more  liberal  students  there  has 
been  built  a  broader  and  deeper  personality  adapted  for 
slower  constructive  work. 

In  the  last  place,  the  cold  reception  of  the  earlier  returned 
students  given  by  the  government  and  people  at  home,  does 
not  lead  us  to  expect  any  large  following  upon  our  immediate 
return  as  any  revolutionary  course  of  action  would  necessi- 
tate. We  would  have  to  vindicate  ourselves  by  deeds  and 
action  that  we  are  not  semi-foreigners  but  as  sincerely  and 
deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of  our  country  and  people 
as  any  others  who  are  loud  in  denunciation  and  quick  in 
popularising  the  knowledge  acquired.  Besides  of  the  800 
students  in  America  and  the  400  in  Europe,  250  here  and 


RETURNED   STUDENTS   AND   CHINESE   REVOLUTION      173 

about  200  on  the  other  side  are  government  students  and 
sons  of  influential  officials  who  would  not  desire  to  be  left 
stranded  in  distant  lands  by  premature  iconoclastic  expres- 
sions which  would  not  materially  help  the  cause.  They  had 
too  much  to  lose  and  little  to  gain.  Quite  a  large  percentage 
of  them,  approximately  50  per  cent,  received  their  earlier 
training  in  missionary  schools  and  their  views  have  been 
tempered  by  the  element  of  service  which  could  be  per- 
formed under  any  circumstances.  Moreover,  the  contrast 
seen  between  the  conditions  in  the  west  and  those  of  China 
is  greater  than  that  between  Japan  and  China;  consequently 
the  problems  thy  aim  to  solve  are  deeper  rooted,  and  a  change 
of  government — desirable  if  it  could  be  accomplished  with- 
out endangering  too  much  the  status  quo,  is  not  the  sine 
qua  non  for  the  modernization  of  China.  That  is  why 
the  students  in  the  west  would  have  liked  to  see  a  constitu- 
tional government  through  a  peaceful  reformation  rather 
than  a  republic  via  a  revolution. 

Nevertheless,  while  the  greater  part  of  the  destructive 
work  was  done  by  the  larger  body  of  students  from  Japan, 
as  soon  as  the  students  from  Europe  and  America  saw  the 
desperate  situation,  they  all  heartily  joined  the  cause,  for 
they  saw  the  die  was  cast,  the  Rubicon  was  crossed,  and  no 
alternative  was  possible.  Some  twenty-five  students  re- 
turned from  America  and  about  the  same  number  went  from 
Europe,  while  Japan  emptied  her  whole  consignment  into 
the  cauldron.  The  students  in  America  declared  themselves 
for  the  Republic  through  the  columns  of  The  Chinese  Stu- 
dents' Monthly,  the  official  organ  of  the  Students'  Alliance  in 
February  of  1912  in  an  announcement  which  read  in  part  as 
follows : 

It  might  seem  as  if  the  student  body  here  has  not  declared  its 
interest  in  the  political  controversy  of  vast  consequences  early 
enough,  but  that  evidently  has  been  due  to  the  lack  of  first  hand 
information,  the  deliberate  nature  of  our  students,  the  indefinite- 
nees  of  the  revolutionary  leaders,  and  more  especially  the  one-sided 
statements  of  the  newspapers  in  this  country.  However,  our 
sympathy  has  always  been  with  the  revolutionaries,  for  they  repre- 
sent the  progressive  cause  that  will  ultimately  render  it  possible 
for  China  to  come  to  her  own.     In  the  meantime,  the  provisional 


174  Y.    S.    TSAO 

republican  government  has  been  established  and  news  from  our 
fellow  students,  brothers  and  friends  who  are  in  the  midst  of  the 
struggle,  elucidate  the  actual  conditions  in  China.  Knowing  them, 
we  publicly  announce  the  definite  stand  that  the  students  are 
willing  to  make  for  the  republic,  the  establishment  of  which  will 
go  down  into  history  as  the  greatest  event  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury— the  political  emancipation  of  400,000,000  souls. 

New  occasions  teach  new  duties, 

Time  makes  ancient  good  uncouth, 
They  must  Upward  still  and  Onward, 

Who  would  keep  abreast  of  Truth. 

— Lowell. 

Again,  it  was  estimated  that  no  less  than  75  per  cent  of  the 
provisional  Republican  Cabinet  of  Dr.  Sun  consisted  of 
returned  students  from  Europe  and  America,  while  even  the 
coalition  provisional  cabinet  of  President  Yuan  Shih  Kai 
had  50  per  cent  of  them  with  Tang  Shao  Yi  as  the  first  pre- 
mier. 

To  say  that  returned  students  from  America  and  Europe 
would  not  entertain  revolutionary  ideas  on  account  of  mate- 
rialistic and  selfish  ambitions  would  be  a  charge  too  extrava- 
gant and  the  contention  would  fall  by  its  own  weight  of 
exaggeration.  For  did  not  Dr.  Yung  Wing,  the  first  student 
graduated  in  America,  stake  his  whole  life  in  a  revolutionary 
attempt  after  four  great  constructive  institutions,  namely, 
the  Kiangnan  Arsenal,  the  China  Merchants'  Steamship 
Navigation  Company,  the  National  Telegraph  System  and 
the  Educational  Mission  of  the  seventies.  It  was  indeed  an 
inspiring  experience  when  the  speaker  called  on  this  "Father 
of  IVIodern  Education  in  China"  to  discuss  for  two  hours 
upon  the  comprehensive  plan  he  was  laying  for  the  educa- 
tional, industrial  and  military  reorganization  of  China,  when 
he  was  invited  by  his  friend,  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  to  give  his 
advice  after  the  estabhshment  of  the  republic. 

The  ideal  returned  student  from  America  is  therefore  not 
a  destructive  but  a  constructive  man,  and  it  was  only  when 
repeatedly  defeated  that  he  will  adopt  destructive  measures 
as  proved  by  Dr.  Yung  Wing  and  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  both  of 
whom  received  the  American  and  European  influence  of  liv- 
ing a  broader  and  deeper  life.  Nevertheless,  we  must  give 
all  credit  to  our  fellow  students  from  Japan  from  their  intense 


RETURNED   STUDENTS   AND   CHINESE   REVOLUTION      175 

enthusiasm  and  patriotism  and  to  the  many  earnest  reform- 
ers among  the  people  at  home  that  gave  such  an  impetus  to 
the  Revolution  from  the  very  start. 

The  Task  of  Reconstruction 

A  cowl  does  not  make  a  monk  and  the  name  alone  cannot 
transform  China  into  a  real  republic.  Reality  and  not  ideal- 
ism is  the  sure  basis  of  a  modern  state.  Rabid  emotion  has 
played  its  part,  and  a  mighty  important  part,  in  stirring  up 
enthusiasm  and  devotion,  but  any  continued  indulgence 
in  it,  would  sweep  an  individual  or  a  community  off  its  own 
feet,  as  history  has  proved  time  and  again.  China  is  no 
exception,  and  as  the  republic  is  established,  it  is  time  that 
enthusiasm  should  be  superseded  by  discerning  foresight  and 
cool  judgement,  so  that  a  strong,  prosperous  and  centralized 
republic  might  be  insured  for  the  generations  to  come, 
as  the  problems  yet  to  be  surmounted  are  stupendous. 

During  the  revolution,  the  public  sentiment  in  China 
demanded  the  adoption  of  the  American  government  as  the 
model  and  since  the  number  of  students  in  Japan  is  rapidly 
diminishing  and  as  more  students  are  coming  to  America, 
the  responsibility  resting  upon  their  shoulders  to  develop 
China  along  republican  ideals  is  consequently  increased. 
If  they  are  true  to  their  training  as  was  Dr.  Yung  Wing,  the 
first  student,  then  "there  is  also  a  hope  and  promise  that 
God  means  to  build  up  in  that  land  some  strong,  free  and 
characteristic  manhood  which  shall  help  the  world  to  its 
completeness." 


AMERICAN  AND  JAPANESE   DIPLOMACY  IN 

CHINA 

By  Masujiro  Honda,  D.  Litt,  Tokyo,  Japan;  Recently  Editoi 
of  ''The  Oriental  Review" 

From  geographic  and  other  causes,  the  United  States  of 
America  has  been  comparatively  independent,  both  politi- 
cally and  commercially,  of  the  continents  other  than  its 
own.  This  fact  has  enabled  the  Washington  government 
occasionally  to  project  unconventional  ideas  and  principles 
into  the  arena  of  international  dealings.  While  American 
diplomacy,  therefore,  may  be  a  source  of  irritation  to  some 
nations,  to  others  it  may  prove  a  cause  for  thankfulness. 
Whatever  the  result,  American  diplomacy  bears  a  distinct 
stamp  of  its  own,  and  does  credit  to  the  country  of  great 
ideals.  Only  when  it  is  actuated  by  self-interest  does  this 
attitude  defeat  its  own  purposes  and  alienate  the  sympathy 
and  respect  of  other  nations. 

Japan's  relations  with  China  are  as  vital  as  those  of 
England  with  the  continent  of  Europe.  Tokyo  diplomacy 
can  neither  be  purely  academic,  nor  ignore  the  claims  and 
sentiments  of  the  four  hundred  million  co-racials.  Just 
as  the  British  Empire  would  be  threatened  by  the  rise  of 
a  continental  rival,  so  Japan's  safety  demands  that  no  one 
of  her  three  great  neighbors,  Russia,  China,  or  America, 
should  obtain  an  undue  share  of  influence  in  the  Far  East. 
Moreover,  the  fact  that  European  powers  have  vested  inter- 
ests more  firmly  planted  in  China  than  has  America,  requires 
Japan  to  be  more  or  less  on  the  side  of  the  former  when 
Chinese  problems  are  to  be  internationally  settled. 

Besides  this  fundamental  difference  between  American  and 

176 


AMERICAN   AND   JAPANESE   DIPLOMACY   IN   CHINA       177 

Japanese  diplomacy  in  China,  there  is  another  point  of 
divergence  which  makes  the  lack  of  understanding  more 
apparent  than  real.  In  the  democratic  country  with  the 
Monroe  doctrine  theoretically  accepted,  international  deal- 
ings have  naturally  to  be  guided  by  popular  desires  and  to 
administer  to  private  interests.  Even  such  a  disinterested 
act  as  that  of  returning  to  China  the  over-received  part 
of  the  Boxer  indemnity  was  made  an  occasion  for  educating 
Chinese  youths  in  American  colleges,  which,  it  was  claimed, 
would  eventually  further  the  trade,  as  well  as  foster  the 
friendship,  between  the  two  peoples.  American  diplomacy 
is,  in  this  way,  more  a  matter  of  home  politics  than  an 
international  affair,  as  some  shrewd  critics  have  asserted 
with  regard  to  the  Panama  Canal  toll  question,  the  Jewish 
passport  case,  and  the  withdrawal  from  the  six-power  loan 
group.  Japanese  diplomacy,  on  the  contrary,  has  been 
characterised  by  a  bureaucratic  secrecy,  and  a  tendency  to 
take  the  people  into  its  confidence  after  the  inevitable  had 
been  accepted.  This  was  notably  the  case  with  the  terms 
of  the  Portsmouth  peace  treaty  and  the  so-called  ''gentle- 
men's agreement"  to  restrict  Japanese  immigrants  to  Amer- 
ica. In  fact,  a  few  years  ago  an  English  journalist  advised 
the  Japanese  neither  to  apologise  or  explain,  but  to  carry 
on  their  plans  silently  and  tenaciously,  for  the  reason  that 
the  outside  world  would  be  sure  to  suspect,  criticize,  or  even 
incriminate  whatever  they  did,  as  a  result  of  the  important 
position  which  Japan  had  then  attained  in  world  politics. 
Hence,  the  more  need  of  frankly  telling  the  American  public 
what  the  Japanese  have  seen  and  felt  concerning  America's 
policies  in  China. 

The  primary  object  of  Commodore  Perry's  visits  to  Japan, 
sixty  years  ago,  was  to  prepare  an  approach,  an  entrance 
to  Chinese  trade,  which  in  those  days  was  a  goal  of  general 
European  rivalry.  This  successfully  accomplished,  about 
thirty  years  later.  General  U.  S.  Grant,  ex-President  of  the 
United  States,  cautioned  Japan  and  China  against  the  dan- 
ger of  becoming  a  common  prey  to  foreign  aggressors,  which, 
he  said,  would  be  the  result,  if  the  two  Asiatic  peoples  were 
not  banded  together  for  mutual  protection.     As  late  as  the 


178  MASUJIRO   HONDA 

close  of  the  Russo-Japanese  war,  there  had  been  no  single 
sign  of  conflict  between  American  and  Japanese  diplomacy 
over  the  Chinese  situation.  As  soon,  however,  as  Japan 
inherited  a  part  of  the  Russian  lease  of  the  Manchurian 
railway  zone,  a  lease  which  does  not  expire  until  1938,  an 
anti-Ja])anese  campaign  was  systematically  inaugurated  by 
the  occidental  press,  which,  in  a  more  or  less  disguised  form, 
the  Washington  government  seemed  to  support.  Beginning 
with  the  far-famed  Rooseveltian  pronouncement  that 
"America  must  dominate  the  Pacific;"  Taft's  (then  secre- 
tary of  war)  speech  at  Shanghai  in  1907,  which  laid  stress 
on  the  application  of  the  open-door  principle  to  the  entire 
territories  of  China;  Secretary  of  State  Knox's  proposal  to 
neutralize  the  Manchurian  railwaj^s  by  four  powers,  without 
consulting  the  washes  of  the  lawful  owners  of  these  railways; 
American  support  of  a  scheme  to  construct  a  new  line  of 
railway  which  would  greatly  reduce  the  usefulness  of  the 
Russo-Japanese  line  if  the  scheme  was  carried  through;  the 
newspaper  agitation  against  the  alleged  Japanese  rebate  in 
Manchuria;  the  prominent  part  played  by  an  American 
financier  in  the  organization  of  the  four-power  group  for 
Chinese  loans,  into  which  Russia  and  Japan  were  afterwards 
admitted  with  some  difficulty;  the  recent  withdrawal  of  the 
United  States  from  the  six-power  group;  and  the  independ- 
ent recognition  of  the  Chinese  Republic  by  the  Washington 
government  in  the  face  of  an  agreement  among  leading 
powers  to  act  in  unison  in  this  matter — all  these  happenings 
seem  to  indicate  that  American  diplomacy  attaches  more 
importance  to  China's  welfare  than  to  the  interests  and 
sympathies  of  other  nations.  Whether  this  attitude  is 
attributable  to  a  noble  aspiration  to  help  an  under-dog,  or 
to  a  practical  desire  for  commercial  expansion,  its  historical 
development,  independently  of  its  psychological  value,  is 
well  worth  our  notice. 

The  traditional  foreign  policy  of  China  was  to  set  one 
strong  nation  to  check  another.  It  was  in  accordance  with 
this  principle  that  a  triple  European  interference  was  invited 
at  the  close  of  her  conflict  with  Japan.  Again  in  the  Russo- 
Japanese  w^ar,  China  hoped  for  a  chance  of  recovering  her 


AMERICAN   AND    JAPANESE   DIPLOMACY   IN   CHINA       179 

lost  rights  in  Manchuria  without  fighting.  Should  this 
plan  fail,  the  late  Li  Hung  Chang's  shrewdness  foresaw  the 
possibility  of  driving  out  the  two  aggressors  by  means  of 
the  influence  of  the  United  States.  This  idea  is  referred 
to  in  his  interesting  diary  while  being  welcomed  in  America 
on  his  way  home  from  Europe.  Washington  diplomacy, 
on  the  other  hand,  readily  embraced  the  opportunity  of 
removing  the  offence  it  had  given  to  China  through  the 
exclusion  act,  and  of  improving  American  trade  with  her 
vast  population  through  various  means  of  befriending  China 
or  of  thwarting  other  powers.  The  gallant  American  now 
found  an  upper-dog  in  Japan,  who  had  been  an  under-dog 
with  regard  to  China  and  Russia.  Hence  the  inevitable 
result  of  America  and  Japan  becoming  at  cross  purposes 
over  China's  affairs. 

American  diplomacy  has  ever  been  welcome  and  success- 
ful where  the  abstract  principles  of  humanity  and  justice 
are  concerned,  and  when  it  has  been  free  from  the  bare 
suspicion  of  self-seeking.  This  was  notably  the  case  in  the 
timely  declaration  of  the  open-door  policy  in  China  and  her 
territorial  integrity — as  also  in  inviting  Russia  and  Japan 
to  come  to  terms  after  their  sanguinary  struggle.  In  mat- 
ters touching  the  practical  interests  of  other  peoples,  how- 
ever, American  diplomacy  would  seem  sometimes  to  put 
other  nations  into  an  attitude  of  mutual  sympathy  and 
common  defense,  and  to  weaken  their  respect  toward  the 
Monroe  doctrine.  For  it  is  on  the  implicit  understanding 
of  America's  non-interference  with  other  continents  that  the 
continental  republic  is  left  free  of  outside  interference.  But 
the  United  States  of  America  has  now  secured  the  necessary 
stepping  stones  (the  Hawaiian  Islands,  Guam  and  the  Philip- 
pines), across  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  reach  China  and  claim 
a  due  share  of  influence  over  her  destinies.  It  is  impossible 
to  reconcile  two  such  contradictory  measures.  In  order  to 
make  its  position  tenable  in  world  politics,  American  diplo- 
macy must  needs  choose  between  the  horns  of  an  awkward 
dilemma.  It  must  either  sacrifice  the  Monroe  doctrine,  or 
restrict  its  application  within  a  much  smaller  sphere  of 
influence,  or  return  to  its  traditional  avoidance  of  foreign 


180  MASUJIRO    HONDA 

entanglement  by  staying  on  the  high  plane  of  international 
morality. 

Wliiche\er  general  course  America  may  eventually  decide 
to  take,  it  is  evident  to  candid  observers  that  America  will 
not  antagonize  other  powers  out  of  a  Platonic  afifection  for 
China,  that  China  realizes  no  nation  but  herself  can  work 
out  her  own  sah-ation,  and  that  Japan  must  be  friendly 
with  the  teeming  milhons  of  China  for  commercial  and 
other  reasons.  It  would  also  be  to  China's  advantage  to 
utilize,  at  least  for  the  present,  the  political  and  military 
supremacy  of  Japan  in  the  Far  East,  as  it  would  be  Japan's 
wisdom  to  keep  China  always  on  her  side.  Commercial 
rivaly  there  is  and  will  ever  be,  it  is  true;  and  some  Euro- 
pean or  American  business  men,  who  have  lost  ground 
through  German  or  Japanese  competition  in  China,  may 
continue  to  agitate  against  their  rivals.  But  broad  states- 
manship discerns  on  the  horizon  unmistakable  signs  of  a 
unanimous  desire  that  all  outside  nations  should  cooperate 
for  the  peaceful  consolidation  of  China's  nationality,  be  it 
called  a  republic  or  a  monarchical  confederacy;  and  that, 
above  all  other  things,  America,  China  and  Japan  should 
work  together  for  the  preservation  of  tranquility  on  the 
shores  washed  by  the  Pacific  waters.  China  with  its  depen- 
dencies is  far  more  extensive  in  territory  and  far  larger  in 
population  that  the  whole  of  Europe.  Its  social,  political, 
economic,  rehgious  and  racial  differences  may  also  be  as 
great  as  those  of  Europe,  or  even  greater.  Its  history  is 
certainly  much  longer  than  that  of  Europe.  It  cannot, 
therefore,  be  through  a  recognition  of  this  leader's  republi- 
canism, or  that  statesman's  rule,  or  through  the  lending  of 
money  by  a  group  of  nations,  or  by  private  individuals 
singly,  that  the  destiny  of  the  four  hundred  million  souls 
shall  be  guided  from  without.  Each  province,  each  depen- 
dency, each  race  of  China  is  a  problem  by  itself,  which 
requires  a  life  time's  careful  study.  That  person  or  nation 
who  thoroughly  understands  China  as  a  whole,  not  any  one 
region  or  party,  is  alone  entitled  to  a  voice  in  the  parlia- 
ment of  men  for  furthering  the  cause  of  China  for  the 
Chinese  themselves. 


SOME  OF  CHINA'S  PHYSICAL  PROBLEMS 

By  Charles  K.  Edmunds,   Ph.D.,  President  of  the  Canton 

Christian  College  and  Observer  in  Charge  of  the 

Magnetic  Survey  of  China  Under  the  Auspices 

of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington 

Physical  well-being  is  the  basis  of  national,  as  well  as  of 
individual  life,  in  all  its  other  aspects.  China  today  faces 
an  almost  overwhelming  gamut  of  problems,  political,  eco- 
nomic, social,  industrial  and  educational.  Many  of  them 
demand  immediate  solution,  or  at  least,  immediate  attack. 
Some  of  the  most  pressing  of  these  are  what  I  would  call 
physical. 

There  is  not  time,  and  I  would  not  be  qualified  if  there 
were  time,  to  give  anything  like  a  comprehensive  discussion 
of  the  various  physical  problems  that  China  faces.  But 
in  journeying  widely  throughout  China  during  the  last  nine 
years,  I  have  observed  some  of  the  surface  aspects  of  several 
of  these  problems.  These  I  shall  try  to  present  to  you 
chiefly  by  means  of  the  photographs  I  have  secured.^ 

The  primaries  of  an  individual  life  are  food,  shelter  and 
raiment.  The  primaries  of  a  national  life  are  these  for  all 
the  people  plus  ways  of  communication  and  transportation. 

The  poverty  of  the  people  is  one  of  the  most  striking  as- 
pects of  life  in  China.  Yet  their  industriousness  is  almost 
quite  as  striking.  For  most  of  them  it  is  a  tremendous 
struggle  with  no  leeway.  This  results  partly  from  the  over 
emphasized  necessity  of  producing  progeny  to  do  honor  to 
the  family  ancestors,  leading  to  the  practice  of  early  marriage 
and  of  polygamy,  giving  rise  to  over  population  without  any 
disposition  to  migrate  to  less  populated  areas,  nor  indeed 
are  there  the  facilities  to  do  so  or  the  knowledge  of  other  parts 
that  would  invite  such  migration.     These  factors,  combined 

>  The  lecture  was  illustrated  by  a  hundred  slides  mostly  taken  by  the 
author. 

181 


182  CHARLES   K.    EDMUNDS 

with  a  ruinous  policy  durinji;  many  centuries  of  using  up  all 
available  timber,  so  that  now  almost  everN'where  the  hill- 
sides are  not  only  bare  of  trees  but  are  literally  scratched 
for  roots  each  season,  have  so  decreased  the  margin  which 
the  people  have  between  a  state  of  enough  and  that  of  utter 
want,  that  when  the  floods  come,  which  they  do  almost 
annually  in  certain  sections  as  a  result  of  this  ruthless  defores- 
tation, vast  numbers  are  subject  to  actual  famine. 

The  remedy  is  threefold:  First  a  reduction  of  the  birth 
rate  as  general  education  advances  and  a  saner  sociology 
prevails. 

Secondly,  a  comprehensive  system  of  reforestation,  for 
from  a  phj'sical  point  of  view  the  primary  fact  about  China 
is  that  she  has  used  up  her  trees.  Reforestation  on  a  small 
scale  has  been  begun  in  some  parts  but  much  more  needs  to 
be  done  and  the  need  for  it  must  be  made  clear  and  appro- 
priate measures  approved  and  financed. 

Thirdly,  improved  methods  of  agriculture  must  be  intro- 
duced. What  is  needed  is  more  extensive  farming.  The 
Y  Chinese  farmer  is  altogether  a  gardener.  He  is  the  world's 
best  expert  in  intensive  farming,  and  we  can  learn  from  him 
in  that  line;  but  he  seems  to  know  little  of  extensive  farming 
as  we  know  it  in  the  West,  or  of  the  ways  of  improving  varie- 
ties. Modern  agricultural  schools  are  being  established  and 
some  large  agricultural  development  schemes  have  been 
formed.  We  may  expect  to  see  considerable  progress  in 
due  time.  I  would  commend  to  you  the  late  Professor 
Bang's  "Farmers  of  Forty  Centuries,"  and  G.  W.  Groff's 
pamphlet,  ''Agricultural  Reciprocity  between  America  and 
China."2 

I  believe  that  one  of  the  best  examples  of  re-forestation  is 
given  by  Denmark  in  which  in  the  course  of  twenty-five 
years,  a  considerable  area  has  been  given  full-grown  trees  of 
a  quick-growing  variety  and  the  rainfall  has  already  been 
markedly  affected.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  same  conditions 
exist  in  China  so  that  it  will  be  at  least  two  or  three  genera- 
tions before  the  conditions  with  reference  to  re-forestation 

'  Either  of  these  can  be  secured  from  the  Trustees  of  the  Canton  Christian 
College,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 


SOME   OF   china's   PHYSICAL   PROBLEMS  183 

can  be  adequately  altered.  There  must,  in  the  meantime, 
be  a  survey  of  flood-subjected  areas  of  the  rivers  involved 
SO  that  the  adequate  measures  of  protection  may  be  carried 
out.  During  one  of  my  recent  trips  in  Anwhei  Province, 
one  of  the  regions  of  chronic  famine,  I  met  the  American 
engineer,  Mr.  Jameson,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  Red  Cross 
Society  for  the  purpose  of  determining  in  what  way  such 
protective  works  might  be  carried  out,  and  I  have  noted 
recently  in  the  press  that  President  Taft  has  commended  Mr. 
Jameson's  report  to  President  Yuan  Shih  Kai.  But  this 
task  of  determining  what  should  be  done  for  the  control  of 
the  rivers  and  canals  is  a  gigantic  one  and  needs  the  atten- 
tion of  the  world's  best  experts. 

Chief  among  the  rivers  needing  such  control  is  the  Yellow 
River,  ''China's  great  sorrow."  This  is  but  little  inferior  to 
the  Yangtsze  in  length,  being  nearly  2500  miles,  running 
from  southwest  to  northeast.  But  is  is  one  of  the  most  un- 
manageable rivers  in  the  world  and  of  little  utility.  It  is 
a  characteristic  river  of  the  loess  region,  with  a  broad  shallow 
course  which  is  apt  to  change.  It  owes  its  color  and  name  to 
loess  sediment.  During  the  whole  known  historical  period, 
this  river  has  frequently  changed  its  course  for  the  last 
350  miles.  These  changes  have  swept  over  a  fan-shaped 
areas  of  60  degrees  in  one  of  the  most  densely  populated  and 
highly  cultivated  regions  in  all  China,  and  have,  consequently 
caused  great  loss  of  life  both  directly  by  flood,  and  indirectly 
by  consequent  famine  through  destruction  of  standing  crops 
as  well  as  of  stored  food  supplies. 

Throughout  its  whole  lower  course,  its  waters  run  through 
the  plain  where  it  is  most  to  be  dreaded,  because  the  mud  and 
sand  carried  down  by  its  stream  have  actually  raised  the  bed 
of  the  river  until  it  is  several  yards  above  the  level  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  Consequently  there  are  few  important 
towns  on  its  banks.  At  its  crossing  with  the  Grand  Canal,  its 
bed  is  16  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Canal. 

In  1642,  the  city  of  Kai  fung,  350  miles  inland,  was  sub- 
merged 20  feet,  and  200,000  persons  are  said  to  have  perished. 
In  1854  the  river  flowed  into  the  Yellow  Sea  in  latitude  34 
degrees  N,  but  in  that  year  it  diverted  near  Kai  fung  fu,  into 


184  CHARLES   K.    EDMUNDS 

a  northern  bed  it  occupied  550  years  before,  and  joining  the 
Ta  tsing  ho,  discharged  into  the  Gulf  of  Chihli,  several  hun- 
dred miles  further  up  the  coast.  In  1887  a  terrible  inunda- 
tion occurred  by  the  river  bank  giving  in,  and  towns  and 
\'illages  were  swept  away. 

To  hinder  its  overflowing,  embankments  hem  it  in,  some 
nearer,  others  farther,  ranging  one  behind  another  at  variable 
distances.  In  this  manner,  if  one  gives  way,  another  pre- 
vents the  inundation.  In  its  present  state,  the  work  is 
still  very  inefficient,  the  dikes  being  weak,  and  constructed 
with  materials  that  offer  insufficient  resistance. 

The  mud  and  sand  which  frequently  obstruct  the  Yellow 
River,  render  it  also  very  difficult  of  navigation.  The  only 
portion  where  it  can  be  availed  of,  is  to  the  north  of  Honan, 
and  in  the  last  25  miles  of  its  course.  But  even  in  this  part, 
a  shoal  prevents  junks  except  of  very  light  draft  from  pass- 
ing. 

The  flow  of  the  Yellow  River  varies  much  with  the  season. 
It  has  been  reckoned  to  be  a  little  over  4000  cubic  yards 
per  second,  in  its  middle  portion,  near  Tsinan  Fu (Shantung). 
The  flow  is  three  miles  greater  in  the  flood  season.  It  is  on 
the  whole  relatively  small  for  such  a  great  river,  but  this  is 
partly  accounted  for  by  the  waste  of  the  water  that  filters 
through  the  embankments.  The  mud  and  sand,  which  it 
unceasingly  deposits  in  the  Gulf  of  Chihli,  constantly  lessen 
the  depth  of  the  latter,  and  form  there  new  alluvial  lands. 
Opposite  the  former  mouth  of  the  river  (1851)  one  can  see 
what  great  quantity  of  sediment  was  carried  in  its  waters. 

The  last  serious  breach  in  its  dykes  occurred  in  Septem- 
ber, 1902.  The  Chinese  engineers  showed  great  ingenuity 
in  efTecting  its  repair.  The  breach  was  near  Liu-wang-chuang 
and  was  1500  yards,  through  which  most  of  the  river  flowed. 
It  was  repaired  by  building  out  from  each  side,  dams  in  the 
form  of  a  series  of  pakwerks  of  kaoliang  stalks  and  sacks  of 
clay,  each  pakwerk  or  buttress  being  joined  to  the  previous 
one  by  ropes  and  piles. 

Kaoliang  is  a  kind  of  sorghum,  probably  identical  with 
Barbados  millet.  The  core  of  the  stalk,  except  for  a  very 
thin  and  weak  covering,  is  entirely  pith,  but  it  has  a  matted 


SOME   OF   china's   PHYSICAL   PROBLEMS  185 

bunch  of  fairly  hard  and  strong  roots  which  form  its  chief 
virtue  for  construction  work.  The  stalk  is  about  6  feet  long, 
f  inch  in  diameter,  and  the  bunch  of  roots,  3  to  5  inches  in 
diameter.  The  face  of  the  werk  including  the  sides  is  com- 
posed of  the  roots  which  mat  together  and  make  a  splendid 
surface  for  keeping  out  water. 

The  final  opening  in  this  breach  of  1500  yards,  after  pak- 
werks  were  built  out  from  each  side,  was  reduced  to  55  feet, 
and  this,  after  two  disastrous  attempts  in  which  the  lives  of 
many  workmen  were  lost,  was  effectively  closed  on  March 
16,  1903,  by  letting  down  a  huge  mattress  of  kaoliang  stalks 
and  sacks  of  clay,  the  mattress  being  anchored  to  the  side 
of  the  river  by  a  great  many  15-inch  hawsers  so  as  to  pre- 
vent canting  due  to  impact  of  current.  Over  one  hundred 
8-inch  ropes  spaced  closely  together  were  stretched  across 
and  belayed  to  anchor  piles.  On  these  were  than  placed  in 
alternate  layers  the  kaoliang  stalks  and  sacks  of  clay.  When 
these  materials  reached  the  level  of  the  sides  of  the  dam,  the 
ropes  were  manned,  and  at  a  given  signal  were  each  lowered 
1  foot  on  each  side. 

The  rush  through  the  opening  was  reduced  by  the  con- 
struction of  a  deflecting  groyne  on  the  up  river  side  of  the 
breach,  constructed  similar  to  the  pakwerk,  and  projecting 
some  120  feet  into  the  current.  The  width  of  the  river 
channel  abreast  of  the  breach  had  been  600  feet  but  was 
reduced  to  300  feet  by  the  formation  of  a  sand  bank  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river. 

The  control  of  the  Yellow  River  is  today  one  of  the  most 
pressing  of  China's  physical  problems.  Experience  has 
shown  that  the  diking  of  such  rivers  is  insufficient  and 
almost  futile.  Captain  William  Tyler,  coast  inspector  of 
the  Chinese  light  house  service,  has  presented  a  report  on  the 
Yellow  River  published  by  the  inspectorate-general  of 
customs  at  Shanghai  in  1906,  in  which  he  proposes  to  con- 
trol the  river's  lower  reaches  by  providing  for  the  depositing 
of  the  silt  by  deliberate  flooding  of  large  areas  along  the  river, 
that  is,  to  regulate  its  floods. 

For  this  as  well  as  for  other  rivers  subject  to  floods,  very 
comprehensive  surveys  should  be  made  and  the  history  of 


18G  CHARLES   K.    EDMUNDS 

the  streams  involved  secured  as  accurately  as  possible.  It 
has  been  surprising  to  me  to  see  how  often  the  railway  engin- 
eers have  erred  in  Cliina,  from  their  inadequate  attention  to 
this  factor  of  river  history,  and  after  costly  experience  have 
had  to  redetermine  the  level  of  their  tracks  when  flanking  a 
river  or  lake  or  to  rebuild  their  bridges  crossing  a  stream. 

Another  example  of  Chinese  engineering  skill  employed 
in  protecting  the  land  from  the  "misbehavior"  of  rivers  is 
the  great  sea  wall  along  the  north  side  of  Hangchow  Bay, 
of  which  I  have  elsewhere  given  a  full  account,'  and  is,  con- 
sidering the  difficulties  under  which  it  was  built,  one  of  the 
finest  pieces  of  such  engineering  to  be  found  anywhere. 

The  Hangchow  bore  is  caused  chiefly  by  the  funnel-shaped 
character  of  Hangchow  Bay,  combined  with  extensive  mud 
and  sand  bars  that  occupy  its  mouth  so  that  the  tide  in  com- 
ing up  the  by  instead  of  gradually  rising,  banks  up  near  the 
entrance.  The  difference  in  level  is  such  that  a  great  wall 
of  water  anyivhere  from  10  to  30  feet  in  height  rushes  up  the 
bay  and  up  the  river  at  a  speed  which  sometimes  equals 
that  of  an  ordinary  express  train.  This  occurs  twice  a 
day  and  always  amounts  to  a  considerable  wave,  although 
sometimes  it  is  much  larger  than  others.  Of  course,  an 
exceedingly  strong  wall  is  required  to  keep  out  such  a  mass 
of  rushing  water  from  the  surrounding  country  which,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  is  in  many  places  below  the  level  of  the  river. 
Some  750,000  taels  are  spent  each  year  for  the  upkeep  of 
this  wall.  It  is  built  of  heavy  granite  blocks  joined  together 
with  double  iron  wedges  and  besides  the  wall  which  is  ordi- 
narily 30  feet  in  height,  there  are  two  granite  platforms  or 
ledges  each  edged  with  a  multiple  series  of  long  piles  driven 
into  the  sand,  constituting  one  of  the  strongest  sea  footings 
that  could  be  secured  to  keep  the  wall  from  being  undermined. 
At  interv^als  of  about  half  a  mile  for  a  good  part  of  the  wall, 
there  are  pakwerk  buffers  to  deflect  the  current  of  the  bore. 

As  if  these  two  cases  of  the  devastating  forces  to  be  over- 
come were  not  enough  to  develop  resourcefulness  and  hardi- 
hood in  the  people  compelled  to  face  them,  the  coast  of 

^  Popular  Science  Monthly,  February  and  March,  1908. 


SOME   OF   china's   PHYSICAL   PROBLEMS  187 

China  is  subject  also  to  frequent  typhoons,  many  of  which  are 
destructive  of  life  and  property  in  the  extreme.  I  shall 
attempt  no  description  of  the  typhoon  and  its  origin,  but 
wish  by  my  pictures  to  call  attention  to  the  tremendous 
destruction  caused  by  such  storms. 

In  order  that  there  may  be  more  timely  warnings,  there 
are  needed  more  observatories  and  better  coordination  in  the 
work  of  existing  observatories  throughout  the  Orient.  There 
are,  at  the  present  time,  well-established  observatories  at 
Zikawei  near  Shanghai,  maintained  by  French  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries; at  Hong  Kong,  maintained  by  the  British  colonial 
government,  and  at  Tsintau,  the  German  concession  on 
Shantung  promontory.  These  observatories  are  more  or 
less  in  receipt  of  communications  from  the  observatories  at 
Manila  and  Tokio,  and  there  are  also  observations  of  more  or 
less  regularity  at  various  light  house  stations  along  the  China 
coast  and  at  some  of  the  ports  by  the  harbor  masters  in  the 
customs  service.  But,  there  is  a  great  deal  more  than  this 
to  be  done,  and  the  whole  work  needs  to  be  put  upon  a 
sound  basis  in  its  scientific  work  and  in  its  administration. 

One  of  the  best  things  that  Sir  Robert  Hart  did  in  con- 
nection with  the  customs  service  was  to  give  the  China  coast 
its  needed  light  houses,  so  that  today  it  has  a  chain  of  such 
that  will  rival  those  found  anywhere. 

The  country  at  large  needs  also  a  weather  service.  While ' 
this  is  primarily  the  government's  duty,  missionary  colleges 
at  the  present  time  have  a  real  opportunity  to  assist  China 
in  this  connection.  The  physics  department  of  each  of  the 
colleges  throughout  the  land  should  make  adequate  and  sys- 
tematic meteorological  observations  so  that  when  the  time 
comes  when  the  government  is  able  to  organize  a  service  on 
its  own  basis,  there  will  be  qualified  observers  available  and 
an  accumuation  of  valuable  data  upon  which  valid  generali- 
zations as  to  the  meteorological  forces  in  China  may  be  based. 
All  this  is  closely  connected  with  re-forestation,  extensive 
farming  and  the  control  of  rivers.  There  should  be  a  thor- 
ough meteorological  survey  as  a  necessary  preliminary  if  these 
problems  are  to  be  adequately  solved,  for  it  will  require  at 


188  CHARLES    K.    EDMUNDS 

least  twenty  years  to  gather  the  data  that  will  render  gener- 
alization valuable. 

Partly  as  a  preliminary  to  this,  the  Carnegie  Institution  of 
Washington  has  for  over  six  years  been  carrying  on  magnetic 
observations  throughout  China  in  accordance  with  plans 
which  I  submitted  to  them  to  be  carried  out  in  connection 
with  their  magnetic  survey  of  the  North  Pacific,  and  I 
shall  treat  briefly  of  the  aims,  scope  and  results  of  this  mag- 
netic survey  as  a  distinct  contribution  to  the  solution  of 
China's  physical  problems.  The  results  of  such  a  survey 
are  necessary  to  the  land  surveyor  and  to  the  navigator  in 
order  that  when  a  magnetic  compass  is  used  either  to  steer 
a  ship  at  sea  or  to  run  the  lines  of  a  survey  on  land,  the  user 
may  know  the  amount  accurately  by  which  the  needle  devi- 
ates from  the  astronomical  or  true  north.  At  each  station, 
the  observer  determines  latitude  and  longitude  by  astrono- 
mical observations;  the  compass  deviation  or  declination, 
the  dip  of  the  magnetic  needle  and  the  intensity  of  the  earth's 
magnetic  force  at  that  place.  All  these  elements  are  neces- 
sary in  order  to  predict  the  way  in  which  the  magnetic  decli- 
nation from  the  north  will  vary  with  the  years.  The  Car- 
negie Institution  of  Washington  has  extended  its  operations 
to  China  as  a  part  of  its  plan  to  supplement  the  work  of  the 
constituted  governments,  who  have  not  yet  organized  scien- 
tific services.  Already  fifteen  of  the  provinces  have  been 
traversed  and  about  a  hundred  stations  have  been  occupied 
at  intervals  varying  from  25  to  100  miles.  The  results  for 
the  years  1905-1910  are  just  being  published  and  had  pre- 
viously in  part  been  made  available  to  those  chiefly  inter- 
ested. Only  three  of  the  most  western  provinces  and  the 
greater  part  of  Mongolia  remain  to  be  covered  in  this  pre- 
liminary reconnaissance. 

Connected  with  this  matter  of  surveys  is  the  whole  prob- 
lem of  reform  in  weights  and  measures  in  China  which  are  in 
utter  confusion  today.  But  while  really  a  part  of  your  topic, 
I  shall  not  attempt  here  any  discussion  of  this  item. 

During  my  survey  trips  I  have  of  course  come  to  appreciate 
very  feelingly  the  problem  that  China  has  with  reference  to 


SOME    OF   china's   PHYSICAL   PROBLEMS  189 

roads.  The  pictures  show  you  a  few  typical  cases  which 
will  indicate  what  a  boon  good  roads  would  be  and  how  much 
railroads  would  relieve  conditions  at  present  so  hard  to 
bear.  In  the  south  there  are  no  roads  only  footpaths.  In 
the  north  the  cart  roads  are  so  ancient  and  worn  that  in  the 
loess  regions  they  are  veritable  ruts — sometimes  as  deep  as 
70  feet  below  the  level  of  the  land  on  either  side. 

One  reason  why  roads  have  been  neglected  is  the  preval- 
ence of  waterways,  especially  in  the  Yangtsze  and  Can- 
ton deltas,  and  throughout  the  whole  country  great  use  is 
made  of  even  insignificant  streams  by  boats  of  very  shallow 
draft.  All  these  should  be  improved  by  proper  conservancy 
methods. 

Of  special  importance  in  this  connection  is  the  Grand 
Canal,  the  oldest  and  longest  of  canals.  As  the  chief  artifi- 
cial waterway  in  China  I  wish  to  present  to  you  something 
of  the  history  and  present  condition  of  this  canal,  illustrating 
this  latter  aspect  with  a  number  of  photographs  secured  a 
few  years  ago  when  I  made  a  trip  in  a  house-boat  all  the  way 
from  the  Yellow  River  to  the  southern  terminus  of  the  canal 
at  Hangchow,  about  700  miles. 

The  Grand  Canal,  called  in  Chinese  Yii-ho  (Imperial 
River),  Ytin-ho  (Transport  River,)  or  Yunhang-ho  (Tribute- 
bearing  river),  extends  from  Hangchow  in  Chekiang  to 
T'ientsin  in  Chihli,  a  distance  of  about  1000  miles. 

According  to  the  most  reliable  accounts,  it  was  commenced 
in  the  sixth  century  B.C.,  and  finished  in  only  A.D.  1283. 
The  most  ancient  part  is  that  which  lies  between  the  Yang- 
tsze and  the  Hwai-ho.  The  southern  part,  extending  from 
Hangchow  to  Chinkiang,  was  constructed  from  A.D.  605 
to  617.  The  upper  part,  extending  from  the  old  bed  of  the 
Hwang-ho  to  T'ientsin,  was  constructed  by  the  Emperor 
Shi  Tsu  of  the  Yuen  dynasty,  and  completed  within  a  space 
of  three  years  (A.D.  1280-1283).  Shi  Tsu  then  transferred 
his  capital  from  Hangchow  to  Peking.  As  the  northern 
provinces  were  not  very  fertile,  and  the  trade  along  the  sea- 
board unsafe,  he  was  forced  to  get  provisions  from  the  south- 
ern provinces.  He  therefore  resolved  to  complete  the  work 
left  unfinished  by  his  predecessors. 


100  CHARLES    K.    EDMUNDS 

Tlie  southern  portion,  extending  from  Hangchow  to 
Chinkiang,  offers  no  difficulty  as  to  its  water  supply.  The 
slope  is  gentle  and  water  is  plentiful.  Navigation  on  it  is 
easy.  Boats  are  sometimes  retarded  by  bridges,  but  there 
are  neither  rapids  nor  locks  to  pass.  The  flood  and  tides 
of  the  Hangchow  River  are  the  only  obstacles  to  overcome. 
Of  the  Bore  Wall  that  does  this,  I  have  already  spoken. 

The  central  portion  extending  from  the  Yangtze  to  Ts'ing- 
kiangp'oo  is  the  most  ancient.  This  part  skirts  several 
large  lakes.  It  was  formerly  fed  by  the  Yangtsze,  and 
its  stream  flowed  in  a  northwest  direction.  It  is  fed  at  the 
present  day  bj^  the  waters  of  the  Hwai-ho,  as  they  issue  from 
the  Hungtseh  lake,  and  the  stream  runs  in  a  northerly  direc- 
tion. The  current  is  fairly  strong.  The  level  of  the  country 
lying  to  the  west  of  the  Grand  Canal  and  called  the  Shang- 
ho  (above  the  river),  is  higher  than  the  bed  of  the  canal,  while 
the  country  to  the  east,  or  Hsia-ho  (below  the  river)  is 
lower.  Waste-weirs  constructed  on  the  eastern  embank- 
ment, and  opening  on  the  Hsia-ho,  discharge  the  surplus 
waters  in  the  flood  season,  and  thus  relieve  the  banks  and 
hinder  injury  of  the  works.  There  are  few  bridges  in  this 
portion  of  the  Canal,  but  numerous  ferry-boats  facilitate 
passing  at  almost  every  place.  This  part  of  the  Canal  is 
far  from  offering  the  same  advantages  for  navigation,  at 
least,  when  one  proceeds  northward,  as  the  southern  por- 
tion. Boats,  however,  can  easily  travel  on  it  and  as  on  the 
southern  section  launch  trains  are  regularly  maintained. 

The  northern  portion,  extending  from  Ts'ingkiangp'oo 
to  T'ientsin,  is  the  most  recent  and  also  the  most  difficult  for 
navigation,  and  hence  the  least  utilized.  Between  the  Ts'ing 
kiangp'oo  and  the  Hwang-ho,  the  Canal  is  fed  from  the 
Hwai-ho  and  the  Wen-ho.  Its  highest  point  is  at  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Wen-ho,  just  south  of  the  Yellow  River. 

The  current  flows  in  a  northerly  direction  from  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Tawen-ho  with  the  Grand  Canal  at  Nanwang. 
The  passage  of  the  Hwang-ho  is  difficult.  If  the  water  fails 
to  rise  7|  feet  beyond  the  ordinary  level,  junks  are  unable 
to  cross  it.  If  it  rises  higher,  the  current  becomes  too  strong, 
and  so  travelers  must  at  times  wait  a  whole  month  before  an 


SOME   OF   china's   PHYSICAL   PROBLEMS  191 

opportuiiity  offers  to  cross  it.  At  Lints'ing,  the  Canal 
joins  the  Wei-ho,  borrows  its  channel,  and  is  again  easily- 
navigated.  From  Ts'ingkiangp'oo  to  Lints'ing,  the  Canal  is 
navigable  with  difficulty.  Water  is  often  lacking,  and  the 
locks  or  chah  (such  is  the  term  applied  to  the  narrows  that 
stem  the  velocity  of  the  current  and  establish  a  difference 
of  level  above  and  below)  constructed  to  remedy  the  draw- 
backs, are  passed  with  difficulty.  On  the  up-voyage  the 
boat  must  be  hoisted  by  means  of  hawsers,  while  in  the  down- 
ward trip,  it  must  be  kept  in  check.  There  are  numerous 
capstans,  and  hands  are  not  wanting  (about  eighty  or  one 
hundred  men  are  at  work  at  times),  nevertheless,  the  opera- 
tion is  not  performed  without  trouble  and  risk  of  mishap. 

The  tribute  fleet,  which  carried  the  rice  to  Peking,  for- 
merly followed  this  way,  and  comprised  4000  to  5000  boats 
divided  into  sixty-five  sections.  The  voyage  was  performed 
but  once  annually.  Of  late  years,  the  grain  dispatched 
to  Peking  is  largely  forwarded  by  the  sea  route,  through  the 
agency  of  the  China  Merchants'  Steamship  Company. 

As  a  means  of  communication  between  north  and  south, 
this  part  of  the  Canal  is  at  present  of  little  value,  as  it  is 
defectively  constructed,  silted  up  by  the  mud-laden  waters  of 
the  rivers  crossed,  and  rendered  ineffective  through  official 
neglect.  But  it  could  be  restored  to  usefulness  and  be  of 
considerable  value. 

In  its  southern  and  central  portions,  the  Grand  Canal, 
although  badly  kept  up,  is  much  more  utilized,  and  several 
thousands  of  boats  traffic  on  it.  From  Ts'ingkiangp'oo 
to  T'ientsin,  travelers  frequently  hire  carts  which  jolt  them 
on  to  Peking.  But  this  is  precisely  the  part  I  was  most 
interested  to  traverse. 

Numerous  officials  were  formerly  entrusted  with  the  up- 
keep of  the  Grand  Canal,  under  the  control  of  a  director- 
general  of  the  grain  transport,  or  Ts-aoyun  Tsungtuh. 
This  official  was  of  equal  rank  with  the  viceroys.  He  re- 
sided at  Ts'ingkiangp'oo,  as  well  as  his  first  assistant,  who 
bore  the  title  of  tribute  Taot'ai,  or  Ts'ao-Hot'ai.  The  office 
of  director-general  of  the  grain  transport  was  abolished  in 
January,   1905. 


192  CHARLES   K.    EDMUNDS 

The  pictures  illustrate  the  details  of  the  locks  and  their 
method  of  operation.  They  also  show  the  dilapidated 
condition  of  the  locks  in  certain  places  and  the  bad  condition 
of  the  canal  elsewhere. 

The  ordinan,'  canal  lock  consists  of  heavy  granite  bastions, 
forming  a  gateway  and  carrying  on  their  opposing  faces 
deep  grooves  in  which  are  set  heavy  timbers  to  form  a  dam. 
These  timbers  are  raised  by  means  of  heavy  stone  set  cap- 
stans, and  by  closing  any  one  dam  on  the  opening  of  the  one 
above  it,  enough  water  may  be  available  until  the  down- 
coming  boats  have  been  enabled  to  navigate  the  shallows 
between  it  and  the  upper  lock.  Boats  of  shallow  draft  are 
able  to  go  down  on  the  flood  and  to  navigate  the  shallows 
below  this  lock  by  the  backing  up  of  the  water  in  the  rear 
of  the  next  down-canal  lock,  ascending  boats  being  tracked 
up  against  the  flood. 

Because  of  its  position  and  the  ease  with  which,  from  an 
engineering  point  of  view,  it  could  be  put  in  a  proper  work- 
ing condition,  it  seems  to  me  very  important  that  the  Grand 
Canal  should  be  improved  and  thus  afTord  a  cheap  method  of 
transportation  for  a  large  section  of  the  country  even  in 
addition  to  what  railways  may  in  the  course  of  time  be  devel- 
oped. The  Chinese  are  such  natural  boatmen  that  I  think 
they  would  take  easily  to  the  handling  of  boats  on  the  Canal 
even  with  modem  locks  and  modern  towing  methods  and 
machinery. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  developments  in  the  way  of 
more  rapid  transportation  in  China  has  been  the  installation 
of  so-called  "launch  trains,"  especially  in  the  middle  and 
lower  sections  of  the  Grand  Canal  and  even  more  so  through- 
out the  Canton  delta.  For  instance,  in  the  custom  house  at 
Canton  hundreds  of  steam  launches  are  registered  as  towing 
between  it  and  neighboring  villages,  anywhere  distant  from 
10  to  200  miles.  These  launches  often  tow  two  or  three 
passenger  barges  in  a  line  and  are  exceedingly  well  patron- 
ized both  for  passengers  and  for  freight.  Launch  building 
ship  yards  have  been  rapidly  developed  in  Shanghai,  Canton 
and  elsewhere.  But,  for  the  more  rapid  and  adequate  devel- 
opment of  that  ease  of  communication  upon  which  so  much 


SOME   OF   china's   PHYSICAL   PROBLEMS  193 

depends  for  the  binding  together  of  China,  we  must  look  to 
the  railways. 

Railroads  and  other  ways  of  transportation  of  commodi- 
ties are  related  to  the  life  of  a  nation  in  pretty  much  the 
same  fashion  as  the  circulatory  or  blood  system  of  the  human 
body  is  related  to  the  life  of  the  individual — similarly  the 
lines  of  electric  transmission  of  intelligence  and  the  postal 
lines  correspond  pretty  closely  to  the  nervous  system  whose 
functioning  is  so  intimately  a  part  of  our  bodily  life.  Each 
of  these  systems,  the  circulatory  and  the  nervous,  has  a 
dominating  centre  which  has  a  relationship  of  mutual  depen- 
dence with  all  parts  of  the  body  and  all  functions  of  its  life. 
No  part  can  live  alone.  So  the  development  of  national  life 
in  China  depends  necessarily  largely  upon  the  development 
of  these  two  systems  within  her  borders, — that  for  the  easy, 
cheap  and  rapid  distribution  of  commodities,  so  that  the 
people  of  one  region  may  almost  instantaneously  relieve  the 
hunger  or  want  in  another  region,  and  that  for  the  quick  and 
effective  transmission  of  intelligence  which  will  cause  the 
thrill  of  the  new  national  life  to  be  felt  in  the  remotest  parts 
and  by  every  individual. 

Consequently,  some  indications  of  what  has  been  done 
and  what  still  remains  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  development 
of  railways  in  China  will  be  of  interest. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  the  following  main  lines 
already  in  operation: 

The  system  from  Peking  to  Newchang  and  Mukden,  via 
Tientsin  and  Shankaiwan  which  in  turn  is  affiliated  or  con- 
nected with  the  Japanese  railways  in  southern  Manchuria 
and  by  them  in  turn  connected  with  the  Trans-Siberian 
Railway.  It  is  of  this  Peking  to  Mukden  line  that  Dr.  C.  C. 
Wang,  who  spoke  to  us  so  eloquently  yesterday  afternoon 
is  an  associate  director.  There  is  also  the  line  from  Peking 
to  Kalgan  and  the  Great  Wall,  constructed  entirely  under 
native  direction. 

Second,  the  Peking  to  Hankow  line  crossing  the  Yellow 
River  by  one  of  the  most  wonderful  of  bridges  and  over  which 
each  week  a  train  de  luxe  runs  that  will  rival  the  best  trains 
in  other  lands,  making  the  journey  in  about  twenty-eight 


194  CHARLES   K,    EDMUNDS 

hours.  From  this  main  line  there  also  runs  a  connecting 
line  westward  to  Taiyuanfu,  the  capital  of  Shansi,  traversing 
a  region  very  rich  in  soft  coal.  There  is  also  the  cross  line 
connecting  Kaifeng  with  Honanfu. 

Third,  the  German  line  in  Shantung  from  Tsingtai  to 
Tsinanfu  where  it  now  in  turn  makes  connection  with  the 
most  recently  constructed  road  from  Pukou  to  Tientsin 
which  at  its  southern  terminus  on  the  Yangtsze  is  just  oppo- 
site Nanking  and  thus  virtually  connects  with  the  railroad 
from  Nanking  to  Shanghai  and  Hangchow. 

Fourth,  the  French  railway  from  Tonkin  north-westerly 
to  Yunnanfu,  the  capital  of  the  Province  of  Yunnan,  which 
has  in  my  judgment  been  the  most  difficult  of  all  to  construct 
and  the  most  costly  in  lives  as  well  as  money,  and  very  costly 
to  maintain  on  account  of  the  frequent  heavy  landslides. 
Dear  as  it  has  cost  it  has,  however,  won  for  the  French  the 
domination  in  the  trade  of  Yunnan.  They  have  beaten 
the  British  who  were  so  slow  in  constructing  a  road  into 
Yunnan  from  the  Burmese  border.  But  the  proposition  is 
entirely  a  different  one.  This  line  from  Burma  would 
have  to  traverse  at  least  two  river  valleys  which  are  very 
difficult  to  cross  while  the  French  line  running  northwesterly 
has  had  a  comparatively  easy  time  in  following  up  the  Red 
River  and  one  of  its  tributaries.  Having  seen  for  myself 
the  difficulties  which  have  been  encountered  in  this  easier 
route  I  am  almost  persuaded  that  the  difficulties  of  the  other 
could  be  taken  as  practically  insurmountable  except  at  most 
prohibitive  expense. 

Fifth,  the  British-Chinese  line  from  Kowloon  (Hongkong) 
to  Canton,  the  last  of  the  major  roads  which  has  been  fully 
completed. 

There  are  of  course  several  minor  roads,  such  as  the 
American-built  line  from  Canton  westward  to  Fatshan  and 
Samshui,  the  Japanese-built  line  from  Swatow  to  Chow- 
chowfu,  the  Shanghai-Woosung  line,  the  Nanking  City 
Railway,  and  others. 

More  important  than  these,  however,  are  the  other  main 
trunk  lines  projected  and  in  part  already  constructed.  Most 
of  the  railroad  development  thus  far  has  been  confined  to  the 


SOME   OF   china's   PHYSICAL   PROBLEMS  195 

north-eastern  quarter  of  the  country.  Lines  connecting 
the  north  with  the  far  south  and  the  east  with  the  far  west 
are  imperative  and  some  progress  is  being  made  toward 
their  reahzation. 

First  among  these  we  should  mention  the  Canton-Hankow 
line  which  with  the  road  northward  from  Hankow  will  give 
an  all  rail  connection  from  the  metropolis  of  Kwangtung 
to  the  national  capital.  Although  begun  over  a  decade 
ago  under  the  auspices  of  the  American-China  Development 
Company,  less  than  a  hundred  miles  of  this  road  are  as  yet 
in  operation.  The  original  holding  company  because  of 
their  failure  to  keep  the  explicit  conditions  on  which  the 
concession  was  granted  was  obliged  to  sell  out  to  the  Chinese 
government,  and  American  prestige  in  China  suffered  a 
severe  blow.  I  have  traversed  the  route  of  the  proposed 
line  and  consider  it  one  of  the  very  finest  propositions  for 
the  development  of  a  coal  bearing  region. 

Second  among  these  projected  roads,  as  yet  but  partly 
built,  is  the  very  important  line  from  Hankow  westward 
into  Szechuan  which  will  obviate  the  tremendous  difficulties 
introduced  by  the  gorges  in  the  Yangtsze. 

Another  important  line  projected  is  that  from  Yunnanfu 
to  the  Yangtsze  at  Chungking. 

There  are  many  others  but  where  the  capital  is  to  come 
from  is  a  great  problem.  Most  of  the  roads  already  built 
have  been  financed  by  foreign  capital  on  the  basis  of  conces- 
sions and  some  have  already  been  handed  over  to  the  Chinese 
government  for  administration  henceforth.  Others  have 
been  joint  enterprises  in  operation.  Others  are  still  com- 
pletely foreign  concessions  and  are  operated  as  such.  Only  a 
small  part  of  the  development  has  been  under  entirely  native 
auspices. 

A  good  deal  of  the  apparent  opposition  to  the  construc- 
tion of  railways  in  China  on  the  part  of  the  people  has  grown 
out  of  violation  of  the  ubiquitous  graves  rather  than  from 
any  inherent  objection  to  the  railway  itself. 

The  people  have  now  come  fully  to  appreciate  the  advan- 
tages of  railways  and  as  we  have  already  heard  in  this  con- 
ference it  was  the  imperial  government's  policy  with  refer- 


106  CHARLES   K.    EDMUNDS 

ence  to  railway  administration  that  was  the  operating 
factor  in  starting  off  the  revolution  in  Szechuan.  Dr.  Sun 
Yat  Sen  is  now  devoting  all  his  time  to  the  promotion  of 
railways.  Doubtless  there  will  be  within  a  reasonably 
short  period  tremendous  development  of  railways  in  China 
and  they  in  turn  will  have  a  tremendous  welding  effect  upon 
the  country.  It  is  necessary  that  within  her  borders  there 
should  be  developed  well  equipped  technical  schools  in 
which  the  Chinese  may  be  taught  the  arts  and  sciences 
necessary  for  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  railways 
and  other  w^orks. 

There  is  hardly  time  to  refer  in  detail  to  the  development 
of  the  postal  system  or  telegraph  lines  in  China,  except  to 
point  out  the  tremendous  success  with  which  the  postal 
system  has  been  developed  in  that  full-fledged  post  offices 
with  the  various  departments  are  in  operation  all  over  the 
country  and  that  a  letter  can  be  sent  anywhere  for  the  sum 
of  1  cent  of  our  money,  and  that  within  a  radius  of  about  60 
miles  from  Canton  for  instance,  it  may  be  sent  for  one- 
quarter  of  an  American  penny. 

Telegraph  lines  connect  all  provincial  capitals  with  Peking 
and  this  system  is  being  extended.  It  is  not  thoroughly 
understood  as  yet  by  all  the  people  just  how  these  things 
work  and  I  am  reminded  of  two  instances  which  have  come 
under  my  own  observation  to  illustrate  this. 

An  old  man  in  Shantung  hearing  of  the  function  of  the 
line  of  wire  that  ran  across  his  fields  declared  that  men  who 
could  devise  such  a  method  for  the  transmission  of  intelligence 
could  do  anything;  wherefore  one  of  his  neighbors  remarked 
that  he  did  not  think  much  of  it,  for  he  himself  had  sat  for 
two  weeks  watching  that  line  very  closely  and  had  not  yet 
seen  anything  go  by. 

The  other  instance  was  of  Hunan  carrying  coolies  tossing 
their  worn-out  straw  sandals  on  the  telegraph  lines  to  secure 
for  themselves  a  fleetness  of  foot  equal  to  the  speed  of  the 
electric  message. 

The  telegraph  and  the  postal  system  have  already,  in 
combination  with  the  development  of  the  public  press  in 
China,  done  a  great  deal  toward  unifying  the  people  and  may 


SOME   OF   china's   PHYSICAL   PROBLEMS  197 

confidently  be  counted  on  for  a  much  larger  effect  in  the 
future  and  this  combined  with  more  adequate  railway  facili- 
ties will  surely  foster  a  greater  feeling  of  nationhood  and  of 
closeness  of  relationship  between  the  various  provinces. 

We  have  seen  something  of  the  various  physical  problems 
which  China  faces.  It  is  significant  that  the  greatest  physi- 
cal feat  of  the  ancient  Chinese,  the  Great  Wall,  which  was 
executed  to  shut  out  foreign  intruders,  has  been  broken  down 
in  all  essential  respects,  and  China  is  today  fairly  ready  for 
foreign  assistance  in  solving  her  problems,  if  it  be  friendly  and 
not  predatory. 

The^olution  of  Chinese  physical  problems  largely  depends 
on  education;  the  education  of  the  people  to  furnish  the 
background  of  general  enlightenment  and  the  education  of  the 
native  leaders  upon  whom  must  rest  the  responsibility  for 
carrying  out  in  detail  such  plans  as  may  be  formed  for  the 
alleviation  of  the  conditions  I  have  referred  to.  In  order 
to  determine  just  what  remedial  methods  should  be  followed, 
there  should  be  first  a  thorough  study  of  present  conditions 
by  the  best  consulting  engineers  and  scientists  who  can  be 
secured.  There  is  at  the  present  time,  it  seem  to  me,  a  most 
important  function  for  foreign  experts  to  fill  in  connection 
with  the  development  of  China,  and  their  work  is  a  neces- 
sary preliminary  and  hence  it  is  all  important  that  China 
seek  and  use  the  assistance  of  such  men,  although  it  is  also 
true  that  her  need  for  such  assistance  will  be  temporary,  and 
the  application  of  the  remedies,  which  they  in  their  wisdom 
suggest  after  a  study  of  the  field,  will  still  depend  upon  native 
talent. 

The  new  national  flag  of  China  embodies,  I  believe,  some 
significant  lessons  in  the  present  connection.  The  sewing 
together  of  five  stripes  of  silk  to  form  one  flag  is  easy,  but  to 
make  a  united  nation  of  five  peoples  so  widely  separated, 
linguistically  and  geographically,  in  a  country  so  greatly 
accidented  by  mountains,  and  so  harassed  by  flood  and  fam- 
ine, and  so  lacking  the  ways  of  quick  transport  and  general 
modern  education  which  must  precede  the  development  of 
resources  and  of  ways  of  communication,  requiring  native 
captains  of  industry  and  native  leaders  of  all  sorts — a  very 


198  CHARLES   K.    EDMUNDS 

much  greater  task.  It  is  just  here  that  one  of  the  functions 
of  our  mission  colleges  in  China  comes  in — to  train  these 
leaders  in  situ,  without  loss  of  connection  with  China; 
for  they  need  to  know  China  as  well  as  Western  science  and 
institutions  and  methods.  They  need  to  be  qualified  and 
unselfish,  then  the  five  points  of  the  compass  assumed  by  the 
Chinese  may  be  rightly  adopted — for  the  north,  east,  south 
and  w^est  will  then  all  be  centered  around  the  common  pole 
of  service  to  China,  and  from  the  provinces  to  Peking  and 
from  Peking  to  the  most  distant  provinces,  the  people  will 
be  united  in  an  efficient,  peaceful  and  helpful  state,  at  least 
within  the  boundaries  left  them  by  their  at  present  more 
powerful  and  predatory  neighbors. 


THE    WESTERNIZING    OF    CHINESE    MEDICAL 
PRACTICE 

By  Charles  W.  Young,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Bacteriology  and 
Pathology,  Union  Medical  College,  Peking 

Before  considering  the  process  and  status  of  the  wesierniz- 
ing  of  Chinese  medical  practice,  it  is  well  to  be  oriented  as 
to  what  it  is  that  is  being  changed.  Briefly  what  is  Chinese 
medical  practice? 

Let  us  approach  this  question  with  open  mind.  It  is 
easy  to  ridicule  what  is  not  understood.  Racial  prejudice 
is  not  confined  to  the  Chinese  and  if  we  take  the  trouble  to 
study  the  original  sources,  not  only  much  of  interest  will  be 
found,  but  some  information  of  real  value.  Often  it  is  stated 
in  strange  terms  and  based  on  bizarre  theories,  but  the  expe- 
rience of  centuries  is  behind  it  and  parts  deserve  investiga- 
tion by  modern  methods  of  research. 

In  our  glance  at  Chinese  medicine  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  Chinese  civilization  is  in  the  stage  occupied  by  the 
European  nations  in  the  middle  ages.  It  has  been  in  much 
the  same  condition  of  suspended  animation  for  two  millen- 
iums.  Thus  if  we  get  a  view  of  Chinese  medicine  it  will  be 
one  of  that  practiced  by  them  in  the  times  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  More  than  that  it  is  extremely  interesting  to  note 
that  the  theories  of  cosmogony  of  the  Chinese  run  parallel 
to  those  of  the  Greeks,  and  that  the  theories  of  pathology 
of  each  are  based  on  those  of  cosmogony.  To  illustrate: 
The  Greeks  believed  that  the  universe  was  composed  of 
four  elements,  viz.,  earth,  air,  fire  and  water,  and  that  conse- 
quently the  human  organism  was  composed  of  tlioso  primi- 
tive substances.  Health  was  conditioned  on  the  proper 
proportion  or  Imlance  of  these  constituents;  disease  on  tlie 
disproportion  or  loss  of  balance.  These  views  of  Plmpedoch^s 
(fifth  century  B.( '.)  in  a  modified  form  permeate  not  only  the 
pathology  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  but  of  all  writers  up 

199 


200  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

to  the  oiglitoonth  contury.  To  this  was  added  the  so-called 
humoral  theory,  i.e.,  that  the  body  fluids  consist  of  blood, 
phlegm,  yellow  and  black  bile;  and  that  to  these  correspond 
the  four  elements  noted  above,  fire,  air,  water  and  earth, 
and  the  four  conditions  of  matter,  warm,  cold,  moist  and  dry. 
The  predominence  of  one  fluid  over  the  others  produce  differ- 
ent temperaments,  viz.;  sanguine,  phlegmatic,  bilious  or 
choleric  and  melancholic. 

The  Greeks,  knew  very  little  of  human  anatomy.  They 
feared  the  dead  and  their  religion  enjoined  immediate 
burial.  Their  knowledge  of  anatomy  came  from  dissection 
of  animals,  including  apes,  and  from  observations  during 
surgical  operations. 

The  ancients  did  not  differentiate  between  tendons,  liga- 
ments, and  nerves.  They  believed  that  arteries  contained 
air  and  conveyed  it  to  the  various  organs. 

While  in  Greece  there  was  a  well-defined  medical  cult,  in 
Rome  anyone  who  wished  could  declare  himself  a  physician. 
There  were  no  laws,  which  complied  with,  guaranteed  the 
capacity  of  the  practitioner,  and  medical  responsibility  was 
extremely  limited. 

I  have  taken  time  to  enumerate  these  matters  because  of 
the  striking  similarity  to  Chinese  theories  and  practices.  As 
with  the  Greeks,  the  theory  of  cosmogony  agreed  on,  patho- 
logy and  treatment  are  perfectly  rational.  To  the  Chinese 
the  universe  is  composed  of  five  elements,  metal,  earth,  fire, 
wood,  water,  each  derived  in  turn  from  the  succeeding.  Cor- 
responding to  these  are  the  five  conditions  cold,  windy,  hot, 
dry,  moist.  Health  depends  on  the  balance  or  correct  pro- 
portion of  these  elements.  Moreover  there  are  added  the 
great  dual  influences,  the  Yin  and  Yang,  or  female  and  male, 
negative  and  positive,  dark  and  light.  The  Yin  (elemental 
moisture)  resides  in  the  solid  or  semi-solid  viscera,  the  liver, 
heart,  lungs,  spleen,  and  kidney.  The  Yang  rules  the  con- 
tractile hollow  organs,  the  large  intestine,  small  intestine 
bladder,  gall-bladder  and  stomach.  The  liver  corresponds  to 
wood,  the  heart  to  fire,  the  spleen  to  earth,  the  lungs  to 
metal,  and  the  kidneys  to  water.  Each  solid  organ  has  a 
hollow  viscus  as  its  assistant  or  minister;  thus  the  liver  is 


WESTERNIZING   OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE        201 

assisted  by  the  gall-bladder,  the  heart  by  the  small  intestine, 
the  spleen  by  the  stomach,  the  lungs  by  the  large  intestine 
and  the  kidneys  by  the  urinary  bladder.  The  liver  is  the 
seat  of  the  soul;  the  gall-bladder  of  strength  and  courage. 
The  lungs  regulate  temperament,  and  so  on. 

Diagnosis  rests  mainly  on  the  examination  of  the  pulse  and 
the  inspection  of  the  face  and  tongue.  The  pulse  is  palpated 
with  greatest  care  and  detail.  The  patients'  wrists  are  felt 
in  turn  by  the  physician  with  the  three  fingers  of  the  opposite 
hand,  each  finger  revealing  the  condition  of  a  different  pair 
of  organs.  Light  and  heavy  palpation  differentiate  respec- 
tively between  the  hollow  viscera  and  their  corresponding 
or  governing  solid  organs.  Fifty-one  chief  types  of  pulse  are 
recognized.  The  face  is  minutely  inspected.  There  are 
thirty-seven  appearances  of  the  tongue. 

For  the  treatment  of  disease  the  Chinese  have  a  very 
extensive  materia  medica.  Many  of  their  di-ugs  are  also 
used  in  the  West,  as  calomel  and  other  forms  of  mercury, 
arsenic,  copper  sulphate,  iron,  sulphur,  sodium  sulphate, 
alum,  ammonium  chloride,  rhubarb,  pomegranate  root,  cam- 
phor, aconite,  cannabis  indica,  musk,  ginger,  licorice,  anise, 
cinnamon,  gentian,  cardamons,  peppermint,  aloes,  orange 
peel,  castor  oil,  and  digitalis.  In  addition  there  are  many 
inert  or  disgusting  substances,  e.g.,  insects,  snakes'  skins, 
recent  and  fossil  bones  of  animals,  and  faeces  of  men  and  ani- 
mals. But  the  Chinese  are  not  peculiar  in  this.  The  London 
Pharmacopoea,  the  first  in  England,  was  compiled  by  the 
Royal  College  of  Physicians  in  1618.  It  contained  crabs'  eyes, 
pearls,  oyster  shells,  and  coral,  each  supposed  to  have  differ- 
ent qualities.  It  also  recommended  formulae  containing 
faeces  of  men,  dogs,  mice,  geese  and  other  animals,  calculi, 
human  skull  and  the  moss  growing  on  it,  blind  puppies  and 
earthworms.  Not  until  1721  were  important  changes  made 
and  even  that  edition  retained  dogs'  excrement,  earthworms, 
and  the  moss  from  human  skulls. 

Chinese  prescriptions  contain  many  ingredients,  usually 
nine  or  ten,  often  fifty.  The  same  was  true  in  the  West  one 
or  two  hundred  years  ago.     The  ingredients  of  the  prescrip- 


202  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

tion  arc  divided  into  the  ruler,  minister  and  subordinate 
corresponding  to  our  basis,  adjuvant  and  corrective. 

Organotlierap>^  is  popular  among  the  Chinese.  Liver,  lung 
and  kidney  of  animals  are  given  for  human  disease  of  those 
organs.  Gall,  especially  of  tigers,  bears  and  notorious  ban- 
dits is  eaten  to  secure  courage.  Tigers'  bones  are  considered 
the  supreme  tonic.  Even  human  flesh  is  used  occasionally, 
a  son  or  daughter  sacrificing  a  bit  to  cure  a  wasting  disease 
of  a  parent.  The  ignorant  have  explained  the  strength  of 
foreign  medicines  by  supposing  that  these  remedies  were 
refined  from  the  organs  of  kidnapped  victims.  The  Tientsin 
massacre  of  1870  grew  out  of  the  spread  of  such  reports.  It 
has  been  common  rumor  that  foreign  doctors  pluck  out  the 
eyes  of  their  patients.  Personally  I  have  known  of  an 
American  physician  who  felt  it  necessary  to  guard  the  reputa- 
tion of  himself  and  his  hospital  by  requiring  the  presence  of 
a  responsible  friend  at  the  operation  of  enucleation  of  an  eye 
to  receive  the  organ  and  so  guard  against  senseless  rumors. 

At  least  since  the  eleventh  century  the  Chinese  have  prac- 
ticed inoculation  against  smallpox.  The  directions  were 
very  minute.  The  season  and  condition  of  the  subject  were 
taken  into  account.  A  wad  of  cotton  moistened  with  the 
contents  of  a  pustule  from  a  mild  case  of  smallpox  was 
introduced  into  the  nostril,  or  a  dried  pustule  was  powdered 
and  rubbed  into  the  nares. 

The  Chinese  have  never  been  surgeons,  not  from  lack  of 
handicraft  but  from  lack  of  knowledge  of  anatomy  and  of 
methods  of  stopping  the  flow  of  blood.  Almost  their  only 
procedures  are  acupuncture  and  counterirritation  by  heat 
\'ariously  appUed,  or  by  scraping.  Acupuncture  is  very 
common.  The  safe  spots  388  in  number,  are  indicated  on 
two  figures  prepared  by  imperial  order  in  1027  A.D.  These 
mannikins  are  still  in  use  in  the  T'ai  I  Yiian  (Imperial 
Medical  College)  in  Peking.  The  locations  into  which 
needles  may  be  introduced  include  the  joints,  abdomen,  and 
eye.  An  ancient  surgeon  is  said  to  have  rendered  his  patients 
anaesthetic  by  giving  them  medicine  internally.  The  name 
of  this  drug  is  not  given  but  it  is  supposed  to  have  been 


WESTERNIZING   OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE        203 

Indian  hemp  or  hyocyamus.  The  Chinese  do  use  the  latter 
to  induce  sleep. 

China  has  officials  corresponding  to  our  coroners.  Their 
training  is  based  on  an  official  codex  published  in  1248  A.D. 
• — a  time  at  which  Europe  possessed  nothing  of  the  kind. 
Although  it  contains  many  absurd  tests  such  as  abounded  in 
Europe  a  few  centuries  ago,  it  also  has  some  shrewd  methods 
of  determining  the  cause  or  manner  of  death.  Only  the 
exterior  of  the  body  is  examined. 

Medical  practice  is  ranked  low  among  the  callings  in  China. 
Physicians  are  considered  a  little  above  priests  but  below 
diviners  and  school  teachers.  After  gaining  a  familiarity 
with  the  medical  classics,  an  apprenticeship  with  an  experi- 
enced practitioner  is  considered  necessary.  If  the  novitiate 
can  point  back  to  several  generations  of  successful  physi- 
cians, his  reputation  will  probably  be  greater  from  the  start. 
Professional  visits  are  made  only  on  specific  invitation  and 
several  physicians  are  hkely  to  be  called  in  rapid  succession, 
and  discarded  with  their  treatment  unless  immediately  suc- 
cessful. The  bearing  of  this  on  cases  that  require  time  and 
careful  observation  and  supervision  can  be  appreciated. 
Fees  are  small  and  the  cost  of  treatment  is  likely  to  be  the 
subject  of  bargaining.  Medical  ethics  it  must  be  confessed 
are  not  very  high.  Probably  it  is  this  that  causes  physi- 
cians to  be  held  in  comparatively  low  esteem.  A  work  on 
medical  ethics  published  during  the  Ming  dynasty  says: 

When  a  patient  is  severely  ill,  treat  him  as  thou  wouldest  wish 
to  be  treated  thyself.  If  thou  art  called  to  a  consultation,  go  at 
once  and  do  not  delay.  If  he  ask  thee  for  medicine,  give  it  to  him 
at  once  and  do  not  ask  if  he  be  rich  or  poor.  Use  thy  heart  always 
to  save  life  and  to  please  all;  so  will  thine  own  happiness  be  exalted. 
In  the  midst  of  the  darkness  of  the  world  be  sure  there  is  someone 
who  is  protecting  thee.  When  thou  art  called  to  an  acute  illness 
and  thinkest  with  all  thy  might  of  nothing  but  making  money  out 
of  the  patient,  if  thy  heart  be  nor  filled  with  love  of  thy  neighbor, 
be  sure  that  in  the  world  there  is  someone  who  will  punish  thee. 

This  is  good,  but  with  it  contrast  the  Hippocratic  oath: 

I  swear  by  Apollo  the  physician,  and  ^Esculapius  and  Hygiea 
and  Panacea  and  all  the  gods  and  goddesses,  that  according  to  my 
ability  and  judgment,  I  will  keep  this  oath  and  this  stipulation 


204  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

I  will  follow  the  system  of  resinion  which,  accord- 
ing to  Tuy  ability  and  judgment,  I  consider  for  the  benefit  of  my 
l)ationts.  and  abstain  from  whatever  is  deleterious  and  mischievous. 
I  will  give  no  ileatlly  medicine  to  anyone  if  asked,  nor  suggest  any 
such  counsel;  and  in  like  manner  I  will  not  give  to  any  woman  a 
pessary  to  produce  abortion.  With  purity  and  with  holiness  I 
\v\\]  pass  my  life  and  practice  my  art Into  what- 
ever houses  I  enter,  I  will  go  into  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  sick, 
and  will  abstain  from  every  act  of  mischief  and  corruption;  and, 
further,  from  the  seduction  of  females  or  males,  of  freemen  and 
slaves.  Whatever,  in  connection  with  my  professional  practice 
or  not,  in  connection  with  it,  I  see  or  hear,  in  the  Hfe  of  men,  which 
ought  not  to  be  spoken  of  abroad,  I  will  not  divulge  as  reckoning 
that  all  such  should  be  kept  secret.  While  I  keep  this  oath  unvio- 
lated,  may  it  be  granted  to  me  to  enjoy  life  and  the  practice  of  the 
art.  respected  by  all  men  in  all  times !  But  if  I  should  trespass  and 
violate  this  oath,  may  the  reverse  be  my  lot! 

We  must  remember  that  it  is  the  spirit  of  Hippocrates  that 
has  animated  the  profession  in  the  West  from  the  earliest 
times  and  has  preserved  it  from  becoming  mercenary.  To 
elevate  medicine  in  China  to  the  plane  it  occupies  with  us 
is  one  of  the  great  tasks  before  us. 

WTiile  in  China  anyone  may  become  a  medical  practi- 
tioner by  hanging  out  his  shingle,  there  are  some  restrictions. 
Section  297  of  the  criminal  code  orders  that 

Whenever  an  unskillful  practitioner  in  administering  medicine 
or  using  the  puncturing  needle,  proceeds  contrary  to  the  estab- 
lished forms,  and  thereby  causes  the  death  of  a  patient,  the  magis- 
trate shall  call  in  other  practitioners  to  examine  the  medicine  or 
the  wound,  and  if  it  appears  that  the  injury  done  was  uninten- 
tional the  practitioner  shall  then  be  treated  according  to  the  statute 
for  accidental  homicides,  and  shall  not  be  any  longer  allow;ed  to 
practise  medicine.  But  if  designedly  he  depart  from  the  estab- 
lished forms,  and  deceives  in  his  attempt  to  cure  the  malady  in 
order  to  obtain  property,  then  according  to  its  amount,  he  shall 
be  treated  as  a  thief;  and  if  death  ensure  from  his  malpractice, 
then,  for  thus  having  used  medicine  with  intent  to  kill,  he  shall  be 
beheaded  (translation  in  Williams'  Middle  Kingdom). 

A  few  years  ago  a  law  was  enacted  requiring  examination 
and  registration  of  all  practicing  western  medicine  but  it 
has  not  been  enforced. 

It  is  said  that  during  the  T'ang  Dynasty  (618-907  A.D.) 
medical  schools  flourished  throughout  the  empire  but  they 
have  disappeared,  the  only  trace  being  the  T'ai  I  Yiian  or 


WESTERNIZING   OF  CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE        205 

Imperial  Medical  College  in  Peking.  This  institution  trains 
the  court  physicians  and  also  gives  other  practitioners  the 
opportunity  of  study.  In  the  Imperial  Court  there  are 
nine  physicians,  specialists  in  the  nine  classes  of  diseases  that 
affect  the  pulse  violently  or  feebly;  viz.:  those  arising  from 
cold;  those  from  female  diseases;  those  from  cutaneous  dis- 
eases; those  requiring  acupuncture;  diseases  of  the  eyes; 
diseases  of  the  mouth  and  its  parts;  and  lastly  diseases  of  the 
bones  (Wilhams'  Middle  Kingdom). 

While  there  are  no  medical  diplomas  or  licenses  in  China, 
there  is  a  custom  which  answers  much  the  same  purpose. 
When  a  patient  is  cured  he  often  presents  to  the  physician, 
a  laudatory  tablet.  This  bears  a  quotation  from  the  classics 
or  is  couched  in  the  flowery  classical  language.  It  is  a  testi- 
monial; and  the  front,  as  well  as  the  interior  of  the  house  of  the 
physician  is  hung  with  many  of  these  boards.  This  method 
is  that  of  announcing  a  successful  career  rather  than  licensing 
the  trained  but  untried  novitiate.  There  is  some  reason  in 
the  practice  and  it  is  natural  that  it  should  have  grown  up 
where  there  is  no  system  of  examination  or  licensing  at  the 
end  of  the  preliminary  training. 

What  has  been  said  thus  far  appUes  to  those  who  may  be 
called  ethical  Chinese  physicians.  Besides  these,  but  not 
sharply  marked  from  them  (as  is  also  the  case  with  us)  is  a 
great  army  of  charlatans,  who  by  vehemently  affirming  the 
excellence  of  their  wares,  or  their  great  wisdom,  by  psychologi- 
cally the  same  methods  of  those  in  the  West  delude  the 
ignorant.  It  is  this  class  that  gives  the  worst  name  to  Chinese 
medicine.  The  best  is  painfully  inadequate,  but  this,  like 
ours,  is  limited  only  by  the  gullibility  of  its  dupes.  To  this 
or  another  class,  as  you  choose,  belongs  the  third  group  of 
practitioners — the  priests.  Many  temples  or  shrines  are 
sought  for  their  reputed  cures  and  often  are  hung  thick 
with  the  lauditory  scrolls  above  mentioned.  Usually  the 
suppliant  drops  his  fee  into  the  receptacle,  and  then  holding 
burning  incense  in  his  hands,  prostrates  himself  before  the 
image  or  other  object  of  devotion.  He  then  draws  a  bam- 
boo slip  from  the  bundle  presented  by  the  priest.  The 
number  on  the  slip  corresponds  to  that  of  a  printed  formula 


20(>  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

on  a  rack  nearby.  This  prescription  is  taken  to  any  druggist 
who  fills  it.  ]"]ssentially  this  is  not  greatly  different  from 
some  cults  that  may  be  met  in  any  of  our  own  cities  today, 
but  it  especially  reminds  us  of  the  miracle-working  shrines 
of  Europe. 

This  description  on  Chinese  medicine  has  been  given  in 
order  that  we  may  have  some  understanding  of  the  atmos- 
phere into  which  western  medicine  is  being  introduced. 

The  record  of  the  early  contact  of  China  with  western 
Asia  and  Europe  is  very  imperfect  and  that  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  western  medicine  still  more  so.  The  earliest  account 
that  I  can  find  of  western  physicians  in  China  is  that  the 
Persian  records  show  that  in  the  thirteenth  century  the 
Great  Kahn  had  Christian  physicians  attached  to  his  court. 
"This  ....  is  interesting  for  the  Mongol  history, 
which  in  one  place  says  that  Aisie  (perhaps  Isaiah)  was  a 
Fuh-Lin  man  (Frank)  a  hnguist,  astrologer  and  physician, 
actually  asserts  that  he  served  Kyuk  Khan  and  that  sub- 
sequently in  1263  was  chief  physician  and  astrologer  to  Kub- 
lai;  in  1273  he  is  once  styled  a  Mussulman  and  his  hospital  at 
Peking  was  officially  called  the  Broad  Charity."  (E.  H. 
Parker's  China  and  Religion,  p.  181).  This  hospital  was 
opened  in  1272. 

The  records  are  much  clearer  regarding  the  services  of 
certain  Jesuit  fathers  who  were  attached  to  the  court  of 
K'ang  Hsi,  who  reigned  from  1662  to  1723.  It  is  recorded 
that  in  1692  they  cured  the  emperor  of  an  attack  of  fever 
after  his  life  was  despaired  of  by  his  own  doctors.  This  cure 
was  by  means  of  quinine.  The  new  medicine  was  tried  on 
several  of  the  courtiers  before  the  emperor  was  permitted  to 
taste  it.  The  attempt  of  the  same  emperor  "to  introduce 
western  anatomy  by  means  of  a  translation  of  the  anatomy 
of  Pierre  Dionis  by  the  Jesuit  P.  Perennin,  was  frustrated 
through  the  opposition  of  the  native  doctors"  (Neuberger's 
History  of  Medicine,  vol.  i,  p.  63).  In  his  memoirs,  Father 
Ripa  (p.  42-43)  who  went  to  Peking  as  an  artist  in  the  court 
of  K'ang  Hsi,  tells  of  a  lay  brother  who  attended  the  twen- 
tieth son  of  the  emperor  and  gave  a  favorable  prognosis, 
but  the  boy  died.     He  was  "kicked,  cuffed  and  beaten  so 


WESTERNIZING   OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE        207 

severely  by  the  order  of  the  emperor  that  he  fell  seriously 
ill."  He  further  says,  ''I  was  acquainted  with  some  medical 
men  who  attended  one  of  the  imperial  family,"  and  were 
flogged  and  imprisoned  for  unsuccessful  treatment.  Taught 
by  these  and  many  other  occurrences,  the  Jesuits  who  were 
in  the  emperor's  service  as  mathematicians,  painters,  watch- 
makers, surgeons,  and  in  other  capacities  would  never  under- 
take to  serve  him  as  physicians.  But  he  records  that  Father 
Rod  accompanied  the  same  emperor  to  Jehol  as  surgeon. 
Father  Ripa  fell  from  his  horse  and  was  treated  by  a  ''Tar- 
tar surgeon"  (p.  67).  He  says,  "to  confess  the  truth,  al- 
though the  mode  of  treatment  was  of  a  barbarous  descrip- 
tion, and  some  of  the  remedies  appeared  useless,  I  was  cured 
in  a  very  short  time."  Because  of  fear  of  encroachment 
by  the  countries  to  which  they  belonged,  the  Roman  Catho- 
hc  missionaries  were  driven  from  the  country.  The  next 
contact  with  the  West  began  with  the  East  India  Company  in 
Canton.  In  1805  Mr.  Alexander  Pearson  introduced  vacci- 
nation at  Canton  and  before  he  left  in  1832  saw  a  large  vac- 
cine institution  established.  Fifteen  years  later,  (1820), 
Robert  Morrison,  the  first  Protestant  missionary  to  China, 
opened  a  dispensary  for  Chinese  in  connection  with  Mr. 
Livingstone,  surgeon  to  the  East  India  Company.  It  was 
conducted  by  Chinese  practitioners  of  the  old  school.  In 
1827,  Mr.  T.  R.  Colledge,  also  surgeon  to  the  East  India 
Company  opened  and  conducted  a  hospital  at  Macao.  It 
was  supported  by  the  Company  and  by  private  merchants. 
More  than  GOOO  cases,  especially  diseases  of  the  eye  were 
treated  in  the  five  years  of  its  existence.  His  greater  serv- 
ice, perhaps,  was  his  advocacy  to  the  missionary  societies 
of  the  use  of  physicians  as  pioneers  in  missionary  work.  All 
these  men  that  have  been  mentioned  were  British,  but  it 
remained  for  an  American  Society,  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  to  send  the  first  medi- 
cal missionary  to  China.  This  was  the  Rev.  Peter  Parker, 
M.D.,  who  opened  an  ophthalmic  hospital  in  December, 
1834.  From  his  work  grew  the  Medical  Missionary  Society 
in  China,  founded  three  years  later,  and  which  still  continues 
its  good  work  in  Canton.     In  1852,  Dr.  Parker  was  appointed 


208  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

I"^nited  States  minister  to  China.  His  successor  was  Dr. 
J.  Ci.  Kerr,  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Mission,  whose 
record  of  1400  operations  for  cystic  calcuh,  is  second  only 
to  that  of  Sir  William  Thompson.  The  work  of  the  Medical 
Missionary  Society  was  not  limited  at  that  time  to  Canton, 
but  was  the  pioneer  in  cooperation  with  British  and  American 
Missionary  Societies,  in  locating  physicians  in  Amoy,  Ningpo 
Hongkong  and  Shanghai.  In  this  connection,  the  name  of 
the  first  British  medical  missionary  should  be  mentioned — 
Dr.  William  Lockhart,  who  arrived  in  1839  and  began  his 
work  in  Macao,  later  going  to  Hongkong,  Chusan,  Shanghai 
and  eventually  to  Peking.  In  twenty  years  he  treated  over 
200,000  patients.  Among  these  early  men  Dr.  Hobson, 
also  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  should  be  noted  on 
account  of  his  work  of  translation.  In  1850,  he  prepared  a 
work  on  anatomy  and  physiology;  one  on  air,  light,  heat 
and  electricity,  and  the  elements  of  astronomy  and  natural 
history;  as  well  as  others  on  the  principles  and  practice  of 
surgery,  on  mid-wifery  and  diseases  of  children,  and  on  the 
practice  of  medicine  and  materia  medica,  the  last  with  an 
English  and  Chinese  vocabulary.  With  the  exception  of  the 
abortive  effort  of  Father  Perennin  under  K'ang  Hsi,  these 
were  the  first  attempts  at  the  translation  of  western  science 
into  the  Chinese  language.  "Shortly  after  the  appearance 
of  the  first  of  the  series,  it  was  re-pubhshed  by  the  viceroy  of 
Canton  and  then  by  Chinese  pubUshers."  Later  they  were 
printed  in  Japan,  then  just  opened  to  intercourse  with  the 
West,  but  all  reference  to  their  western  origin  and  to  the 
Christian  rehgion  contained  were  omitted  (Lockhart's 
Medical  Missions  in  China). 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  ether  was  first  used  as  an 
anaesthetic  in  Canton  in  1847,  the  year  following  its  demon- 
stration in  Boston  and  that  the  report  of  the  Medical  Mis- 
sionary Society  for  1848-49  notes  the  first  use  of  chloro- 
form. 

After  the  beginning  of  medical  missionary  work  in  Canton, 
new  cities  were  opened  as  fast  as  the  treaties  permitted  the 
residence  of  foreigners.  The  treaty  of  Tientsin  in  1858 
allowed  missionaries  to  reside  in  any  part  of  China  and  a 


WESTERNIZING   OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE        209 

rapid  expansion  of  the  work  followed  until  every  province 
has  its  physicians,  hospitals  and  dispensaries.  In  some 
places  these  hospitals  are  well  equipped ;  in  others  fair  work 
is  being  done  under  very  unfavorable  conditions.  The 
efforts  of  medical  missionaries  are  noted  because  they  out- 
number, many  times,  all  the  other  qualified  practitioners  of 
western  medicine  and  because  they  are  scattered  every- 
where, forming,  like  their  clerical  and  education  colleagues, 
centers  where  the  leavening  of  China  with  modern  ideas 
has  been,  and  is  being  carried  on  as  by  no  other  agency. 
The  extent  of  their  work  in  the  aggregate  may  be  judged  from 
the  incomplete  returns  from  the  415  medical  missionaries 
for  the  year  1910.  The  figures  cover  only  126  hospitals 
with  about  6700  beds,  representing  175  physicians.  These 
men  and  women  and  their  assistants  treated  51,121  inpatients 
in  their  hospitals  and  1,548,707  outpatients  in  the  dispen- 
saries, on  tours,  and  in  the  patients'  homes.  The  last  number 
represents  both  first  and  return  visits,  the  number  of  each 
being  nearly  the  same.  From  these  figures  it  can  be  seen 
what  an  influence  these  workers  must  be  exerting  in  bringing 
a  knowledge  of  western  medicine  to  the  masses  as  well  as  the 
classes  of  China.  These  hospitals  and  dispensaries  have  a 
further  part  in  the  same  work,  in  the  training  of  assistants. 
By  this  I  do  not  mean  those  hospitals  that  are  attempting 
to  give  full  medical  courses.  From  lack  of  sufficient  medical 
colleges,  every  doctor  is  compelled  to  a  large  extent,  to  train 
his  own  helpers.  Often  these  men  stay  only  a  few  years, 
until  they  have  a  smattering  of  knowledge,  and  then  leave 
to  take  up  positions  in  government  dispensaries  or  more 
frequently,  to  open  drug  shops  and  to  practice  western  medi- 
cine on  their  own  accounts.  There  is  no  medical  practice 
law  to  prevent  this.  These  men  are  often  no  credit  to  their 
teachers  and  any  moderately  efficient  law  should  cut  many  of 
them  off.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  them  have  very  suc- 
cessful practices  and  wide  reputations. 

Unfortunately  medical  contact  with  the  West  has  brought 
bad  as  well  as  good — not  unlike  our  contributions  in  other 
directions.  Few  quacks  have  established  themselves  thus 
far,  though  several  years  ago  the  Chinese  public  was  relieved 


210  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

of  considorablo  money  by  an  "electric  belt"  fakir.^  More 
to  bo  iloplorod  than  quacks  at  present  is  the  rapidly  extend- 
ing exploitation  of  patent  and  proprietary  medicines.  Wil- 
liams' Pink  Pills  and  Doan's  Kidney  Beans  (to  mention  two 
great  ofTondors)  together  with  a  legion  of  Japanese  nostrums 
are  found  advertised  and  sold  everywhere.  Many  Chinese 
reading  the  specious  testimonials,  are  led  to  believe  that 
tlieso  are  western  remedies  of  accepted  worth  and  pay  $2.50 
for  six  bottles  of  Williams'  Pink  Pills  which  the  analyses 
of  the  British  Medical  Association  show  to  consist  of  carbon- 
ate of  iron  and  to  cost  about  10  cents.  We  are  beginning  a 
fight  in  this  country  against  these  enemies  of  health.  It  is 
no  wonder  that  they  turn  to  the  countries  now  opening  to 
western  conmierce  to  ply  their  trade  where  publicity  and 
pure  food  laws  may  not  trouble  them  for  some  time. 

The  Chinese  government,  national  or  provincial,  has 
opened  in  several  cities,  hospitals  or  in  more  cases  dispen- 
saries. The  board  of  the  interior  (Men  Cheng  Pu)  has 
maintained  two  large  dispensaries  in  Peking  for  a  number  of 
years.  Some  hundreds  of  patients  are  treated  there  daily. 
They  may  choose  between  the  old  style  Chinese  practise 
and  western  medicine.  I  am  told  that  about  three  times  as 
many  choose  the  former  as  the  latter,  especially  for  medical 
as  contrasted  with  surgical  ailments.  The  fact  that  there 
are  no  wards  for  inpatients  where  they  can  receive  the  neces- 
sary after  treatment  accounts  in  part  for  the  disproportion. 
In  hospitals  conducted  by  foreigners,  the  number  of  surgical 
cases  is  much  greater  than  the  medical  among  the  inpatients. 
And  this  brings  us  to  an  interesting  fact ;  namely,  that  while 

•  Mr.  C.  B.  Towns,  to  whom  Mr.  Bland  referred  in  his  address  as  an  expert 
in  the  treatment  of  the  opium  habit,  belonged  to  the  borderline  of  legitimate 
business.  Without  any  medical  knowledge,  he  took  a  secret  remedy  to 
China  and  tried  to  persuade  the  Chinese  government  to  purchase  it  from 
him.  I  mention  this  because  this  conference  should  not  be  left  with  the 
idea  that  Mr.  Bland  evidently  meant  to  imply,  i.e.,  that  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment was  insincere  in  its  attempts  at  opium  reform  because  it  would  not 
take  expert  advice  when  offered.  Further  it  should  be  said  that  Mr.  Town's 
remedy,  the  formula  for  which  is  now  known,  contains  as  its  active  agent, 
a  drug  which  may  be  exceedingly  dangerous  in  unskilled  hands,  yet  this 
man,  himself  without  medical  training,  proposed  to  scatter  it  abroad  for 
general  use  in  the  hands  of  the  laity. 


WESTERNIZING   OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE         211 

the   Chinese  realize  that  western  surgery  is  so  infinitely 
superior  to  their  own  that  there  is  no  comparison,  many  of 
them,  I  believe  it  may  be  said  most  of  them,  as  yet  prefer 
the  old  Chinese  school  for  internal  diseases.     The  reasons 
for  this  are  fairly  clear.     There  is  no  Chinese  surgery;  no 
knowledge  of  anatomy  nor  pathology;  no  antisepsis  nor 
asepsis,  nor  anaesthetics,  nor  means  of  haemostasis.    It  is 
easy  to  see  why  western  surgery  seems  almost  miraculous 
to  them.     In  the  case  of  medicine  it  is  different.       The 
western  physician  does  not  feel  the  pulse  with  the  extreme 
care  of  his  Oriental  confrere.     He  cannot  diagnose  the  con- 
dition of  all  the  internal  organs  by  this  means  alone.     There- 
fore, in  the  eyes  of  most  of  the  Chinese  his  skill  is  much 
inferior.     Moreover,  he  does  not  use  the  terminology  with 
which  his  patients  are  familiar.     He  does  not  know  what 
diseases  belong  to  the  Yin  and  which  to  the  Yang,  which  to 
the  hot,  cold,  moist,  dry  and  windy.     He  does  not  even 
know  whether  his  remedies  are  contrary  in  nature  to  the 
disease  for  which  they  given.     He  does  not  require  partial 
abstinence  from  food  while  under  treatment  as  the  Chinese 
physicians  frequently  do.     Moreover,  he  uses  unheard  of, 
and  sometimes  repugnant  methods  of  diagnosis  and  treat- 
ment; he  requires  the  patient  to  expose  the  part  of  the  body 
affected  no  matter  what  it  may  be;  he  thumps  and  listens  to 
and  examines  the  whole  body.     He  uses  cold  baths  in  fevers 
— whoever  heard  of  such  a  thing!     And  finally  the  Chinese 
beUeves  that  his  own  physicians  cure  as  many  as  or  more 
than  the  western  doctor.     Very  frequently  he  goes  to  the 
westerner  only  as  a  last  resort  after  all  the  native  doctors 
have  pronounced  his  case  hopeless.     The   Chinese  habit 
of  going  from  one  doctor  to  another  prevents  success  in  those 
diseases  which  require  long  careful  watching  and  treatment. 
It  is  almost  impossible  to  get  a  Chinese  to  become  an  in- 
patient when  one  can  only  promise  him  that  after  a  long 
stay,  perhaps  he  may  be  improved,  but  that  a  perfect  cure 
is  out  of  the  question.     The  fact  is  that  western  methods  of 
treatment  do  not  produce  such  startling  cures  in  medical 
as  in  surgical  cases.     In  comparing  the  results  of  the  two 
systems,  reliable  statistics  are  almost  unobtainable.     The 


212 


CHARLES  W,    YOUNG 


only  ones  a\ailablo  arc  those  given  by  Jeffreys  and  Maxwell 
in  their  book  Diseases  of  China  for  the  Tung  Wah  Hospital, 
IIonfz;kong  for  1905.     These  show 


General  diseases 


ADMISSIONS 

DEATHS 

KET  TOTAL  TRKATKO 

Western 
treatment 

Chinese 
treatment 

Total 

Western 
treatment 

Chinese 
treatment 

Total 

Number 

1237 
50.6 

1209 
49.4 

2446 

370 
*29.91 

477 
*39.45 

847 

Per  cent 

•  Per  cent  of  deaths  among  admissions  to  respective  service. 

The  extremely  high  mortality  in  this  hospital  shows  that 
either  the  figures  cover  a  period  of  severe  epidemic  disease 
or  that  only  extremely  ill  patients  were  admitted,  for  the 
death  rate  is  about  ten  times  that  in  most  hospitals.  If  this 
is  the  case,  the  method  of  treatment  makes  much  less  differ- 
ence than  in  less  critical  cases,  for  here  most  will  die  regard- 
less of  the  care  and  wisdom  of  the  measures  taken.  The 
main  interest  of  the  figures  lies  in  the  fact  that  in  as  thor- 
oughly foreignized  a  city  as  Hongkong  practically  as  many 
patients  choose  the  old  as  the  new  method  of  treatment. 

Aside  from  general  hospitals,  others  have  been  established 
for  the  treatment  of  lepers,  and  two  for  the  insane.  Of  the 
latter  the  first  and  best  known  is  that  opened  by  Dr.  Kerr  in 
Canton  in  1898.  The  second  is  a  government  hospital  in 
Peking  entirely  under  Chinese  control  and  in  charge  of  a 
western  trained  Chinese  physician.  So  far  as  I  am  aware, 
there  is  not  a  single  institution  devoted  exclusively  to  the 
treatment  of  tuberculosis,  though  that  disease  is  more  preva- 
lent in  China  than  in  Europe  and  America. 

Great  as  has  been  the  work  of  hospitals  and  dispensaries 
conducted  by  foreigners  in  the  diffusion  of  a  knowledge  of  the 
methods  and  benefits  of  western  medicine,  a  greater  part 
must  be  played  by  the  educational  institutions  that  will  send 
Chinese  men  and  women  out  among  their  own  people,  prop- 
erly equipped  to  demonstrate  the  science  and  the  art  of 
heaUng.  The  evolution  of  medical  colleges  in  China  has  been 
very  similar  to   that  in  America.     At  first  men   trained 


WESTERNIZING   OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE         213 

abroad  held  the  field.  Then  they  obtained  their  knowledge 
by  what  might  be  termed  apprenticeship — reading  with  and 
assisting  a  qualified  practitioner.  Later  schools  were  estab- 
lished, the  teachers  of  which  were  practicing  physicians  but 
who  gave  part  of  their  time  to  class  instruction.  Only 
recently  in  America  have  there  been  medical  colleges  where 
in  subjects  like  physiology,  anatomy  and  pathology,  the 
instructors  have  devoted  their  time  exclusively  to  teaching. 
All  these  varieties  of  medical  instruction  are  found  in  China 
but  very  few  colleges  have  come  to  the  stage  where  a  full 
curriculum  is  offered.  The  commonest  variety  of  instruc- 
tion is  where  one  or  two  men,  more  than  busy  with  the  care 
of  a  hospital  and  dispensary,  take  a  few  students  to  train 
them  as  assistants.  They  lecture  to  them  on  anatomy, 
physiology  and  the  other  fundamental  subjects  usually 
translating  as  they  go  into  colloquial  Chinese  and  probably 
using  the  Enghsh  term  where  the  Chinese  is  lacking  or  un- 
known. Men  trained  in  this  way  have  the  virtues  and  the 
vices  of  their  teachers.  Naturally,  they  know  nothing  first 
hand  of  the  fundamental  natural  sciences  on  which  modern 
medicine  is  based.  Those  who  are  gifted  come  to  take  fair 
histories,  are  good  anaesthetists,  fair  to  good  operators, 
but  usually  with  faulty  technique,  and  are  poor  diagnosti- 
cians and  prescribers.  Their  faults  are  that  they  do  most 
things  by  imitation,  and  do  not  understand  the  rationale  of 
the  proceeding.  They  know  that  the  master  gives  this 
drug  or  that  mixture  under  what  are  apparently  the  circum- 
stances demanding  treatment.  They  try  to  learn  formulas 
and  prescriptions  rather  than  to  diagnose  by  careful  observa- 
tion and  elimination.  In  short,  they  are  empyrics,  the  result 
of  didactic  instruction.  Their  vices  are  the  vices  of  the  sys- 
tem or  lack  of  system  under  which  they  are  trained,  and  the 
system  is  the  result  of  the  stage  of  development  of  education 
in  China. 

It  is  easy  to  condemn  the  conditions  but  America  has  not 
fully  emerged  from  them  herself.  Very  few  schools  in  China 
can  measure  up  to  the  American  Medical  Association's 
definition  of  a  medical  college,  i.e.,  an  institution  having  "at 
least  six  professors  giving  their  entire  time  to  medical  work, 


214  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

a  jirailed  course  of  four  full  years  of  college  grade  in  medicine 
and  requiring  for  admission  not  less  than  the  usual  four 
years  of  academic  or  high  school  preparation  or  its  equiva- 
lent in  addition  to  pre-academic  or  grammar  school  studies." 
None  has  reached  the  new  standard  of  the  Council  on  Medi- 
cal l<Alucation  of  the  American  Medical  Association.  Several 
are  doing  fair  work  and  improving  more  or  less  rapidly. 
About  ten  schools  established  by  missionary  societies  by 
generous  stretching  of  the  definition  may  be  called  medical 
colleges.  Only  one  of  these  has  a  stafif  of  ten  or  more 
teachers.  Being  myself  a  teacher  in  that  one  perhaps  com- 
parisons may  be  considered  invidious  so  that  I  prefer  to  turn 
to  the  judgment  of  others  as  to  the  present  status  of  medical 
colleges  in  China.  In  the  report  of  Dr.  Martin  R.  Edwards, 
who  spied  out  the  land  for  the  location  of  the  Harvard  Medi- 
cal School  in  China,  and  pubhshed  last  year,  he  says,  "Of 
the  schools  which  have  been  estabhshed  by  the  missionary 
forces,  the  Union  IMedical  School  in  Peking  gives  the  great- 
est promise.  It  has  a  good  foundation  in  buildings,  equip- 
ment and  professorial  staff.  In  Shanghai,  the  St.  John's 
University  IMedical  School  has  been  established,  but  its 
requirement  admitting  only  college  men  of  two  years'  stand- 
ing has  largely  limited  its  work.  There  is  now  in  Hankow 
a  small  school  struggling  along  with  practically  no  equip- 
ment as  to  buildings  or  men.  Hangchow,  Soochow,  Foo- 
chow,  and  Canton  have  similar  so-called  medical  schools,  all 
working  with  an  entirely  inadequate  equipment."  The  diffi- 
culties are  two:  First,  the  preliminary  education  is  inade- 
quate; and  second,  the  staffs  and  equipment  are  usually  too 
meagre.  Both  are  due  to  the  undeveloped  condition  of  edu- 
cational institutions  in  China.  They  are  where  America 
was  two  decades  or  more  ago.  The  China  Medical  Mis- 
sionary Association  composed  of  the  four  hundi'ed  and  more 
medical  missionaries  has  drawn  up  a  policy  of  medical 
education  which  it  hopes  to  see  carried  out.  It  has  recom- 
mended that  for  the  present,  missionary  medical  education 
be  concentrated  in  five  centers,  one  union  college  in  each  the 
north,  south,  east,  west  and  central  parts  of  the  country, 
and  that  the  instruction  be  in  Chinese;  that  is,  Mandarin, 


WESTERNIZING   OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE        215 

except  in  Canton.  Practically,  this  means,  Peking,  Canton, 
Nanking,  Chentu  and  Hankow.  There  are  such  schools 
either  in  operation  or  under  organization  in  each  of  these 
cities  except  Canton,  where  a  union  is  not  yet  consummated. 
The  three  Wuhan  cities  (Hankow,  Han  Yang,  Wuchang) 
have  a  small  school  conducted  by  the  two  societies  in  Han- 
kow, and  another  across  the  river  under  the  American  Epis- 
copal Church  in  Wuchang.  This  great  center  has  been 
selected  by  the  movement  headed  by  Lord  WilUam  Cecil 
as  the  site  of  the  Oxford-Cambridge  University  scheme.  If 
and  when  this  plan  materializes,  an  adequate  medical  college 
certainly  will  be  a  part  of  it.  Aside  from  these  five  centers 
designated  by  the  China  Medical  Missionary  Association 
and  those  mentioned  by  Dr.  Edwards  in  his  report,  there  is  a 
Union  Medical  College  at  Chinanfu,  Shantung  with  three 
permanent  instructors  and  two  lecturers.  There  is  one  at 
Mukden,  Manchuria,  with  five  teachers.  The  only  inission- 
ary  schools  using  English  as  the  teaching  medium  are  St. 
John's  in  Shanghai,  which  has  now  affiliated  with  the  Har- 
vard Medical  School  in  China;  and  the  University  jMedical 
School,  affiliated  with  the  Canton  Christian  College.  Aside 
from  the  colleges  mentioned,  there  are  others  that  may  be 
noted.  With  chracteristic  German  thoroughness  a  school 
has  been  started  in  Shanghai  which  gives  a  preparatory 
course  in  the  German  language  and  in  the  sciences  and  then 
a  medical  course,  the  whole  covering  seven  years.  This  is 
part  of  a  campaign  to  make  Germany  and  the  German  lan- 
guage greater  factors  in  the  Far  East  than  they  are  at  present. 
In  Canton  the  French  have  a  school  with  three  professors. 
Their  lectures  are  interpreted  into  Chinese — a  thoroughly 
unsatisfactory  method.  Hongkong  University,  a  semi- 
official institution  recently  organized,  will  have  a  good  medi- 
cal department.  Although  it  is  in  British  territory,  it  must 
exert  a  large  influence  in  South  China.  The  Japanese  have 
opened  three  or  four  schools  in  China,  but  they  are  purely 
commerical  ventures  and  the  less  said  about  them  the  better. 
All  the  schools  mentioned  are  for  men.  There  are  two  mis- 
sionary medical  colleges  for  women.  One  is  in  Canton. 
The  other,  the  Union  Medical  College  for  Women  in  Peking, 


210  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

gives  a  six  year  course.  The  curriculum  and  some  of  the 
t^^achers  are  the  same  as  in  the  Union  Medical  College 
(for  men),  Peking. 

Altliough  they  have  been  referred  to  indirectly,  notice  is 
due  to  the  marked  interest  that  several  American  universi- 
ties have  taken  in  education  in  China.  Yale  University 
was  the  first,  and  in  1903,  opened  work  in  Changsha,  Hunan, 
which  had  been  selected  as  a  site.  Up  to  the  present,  although 
medical  work  has  been  conducted  under  Dr.  E.  H.  Hume 
and  Dr.  F.  C.  Yen,  the  contemplated  medical  college  has  not 
yet  been  organized.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
through  its  Young  IMen's  Christian  Association,  affiliated 
itself  with  the  Canton  Christian  College  and  now  has  three 
men  conducting  the  University  Medical  School.  Prince- 
ton University  mans  the  whole  work  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  in  Peking,  but  there  is  no  medical 
work.  Oxford  and  Cambridge  Universities  in  England  plan 
to  start  a  University  at  Hankow  or  one  of  the  other  Wuhan 
cities.  In  this  they  have  sought  American  cooperation.  A 
medical  college  would  be  part  of  the  scheme.  The  last  and 
largest  project  to  enter  the  field  is  Harvard  University,  which 
has  now  seven  men  in  Shanghai.  The  medical  department 
of  St.  John's  University  has  been  amalgamated  with  the 
Harvard  Medical  School  in  China.  It  plans  to  teach  in 
English  and  to  conduct  a  medical  college,  a  training  school 
for  municipal  health  officers  for  China,  a  research  labora- 
tory^, and  post-graduate  courses  for  foreign  physicians — 
an  ambitious  program.  Only  a  few  of  the  institutions  men- 
tioned confer  degrees.  St.  John's  University  is  incorpor- 
ated in  the  United  States  and  consequently  its  degrees  are 
foreign.  The  same  is  true  of  a  few  others.  This  is  a  part 
of  extraterritoriahty  and  while  some  new  institutions  contem- 
plate following  the  same  course  it  is,  I  believe,  a  wrong  posi- 
tion and  one  that  will  be  untenable  within  a  few  years  when 
extraterritoriahty  of  other  varieties  has  disappeared.  Only 
one  school,  the  Union  Medical  College  in  Peking  enjoys 
the  recognition  of  the  Chinese  government,  that  is  its  gradu- 
ates receive  certificates  from  the  board  of  education.  By  a 
change  of  poUcy  of  the  repubUcan  government,  the  diplomas 


WESTERNIZING    OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE        217 

issued  by  the  college  itself  will  receive  the  stamp  of  the  board 
of  education  in  the  future. 

This  fairly  covers  what  has  been  done  for  China.  What 
has  China  done  for  herself?  Very  little  as  yet.  The  pro- 
gram laid  down  by  the  imperial  edict  of  1909  contemplated 
a  hospital  and  medical  school  in  every  provincial  capital  as 
well  as  a  medical  department  in  the  Imperial  University  in 
Peking.  This,  like  many  other  paper  reforms  of  the  Man- 
chu  government,  was  never  carried  out.  Practically  the 
only  medical  education  conducted  by  the  government  are 
the  two  colleges  in  Tientsin— the  Pei  Yang  Medical  College 
and  the  Army  Medical  College.  The  first  is  taught  by  three 
or  four  French  physicians  and  about  an  equal  number  of 
Chinese  graduates  of  the  school.  The  medium  of  instruc- 
tion is  English.  The  second  formerly  had  Japanese  instruc- 
tors, whose  lectures  in  their  own  language  were  interpreted 
into  Chinese.  The  textbooks  were  those  used  in  Japan,  i.e., 
written  in  the  slightly  modified  Chinese  classical  language. 
Having  dismissed  the  Japanese  staff,  the  Army  Medical 
College  is  about  to  use  English  as  its  teaching  language. 
These  schools  train  the  surgeons  for  the  army  and  navy, 
but  some  of  their  graduates,  especially  of  the  first  and  older 
institutions  are  now  in  civil  and  non-medical  official  posi- 
tions. 

This  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  the  language  medium 
in  teaching  western  medicine  in  China.  It  is  a  question 
in  which  there  is  no  unanimity.  Strangely  the  China  Med- 
ical Missionary  Association  representing  foreigners,  favors 
Chinese  colloquial  for  the  conversational  parts  of  the  instruc- 
tion and  the  easy  classical  style  for  text  books;  while  the 
Chinese  government  has  decreed  that  all  science,  including 
medicine  shall  be  taught  in  English.  The  board  of  edu- 
cation has  been  forced  into  this  position  by  two  factors,  the 
lack  of  teachers  and  the  lack  of  technical  terms  in  the  Chinese 
language.  The  instructors  in  the  sciences  as  well  as  in  many 
of  the  other  higher  branches  in  the  government  colleges  and 
universities  are  foreigners  especially  English  and  Ameri- 
cans. They  go  out  under  a  three-year  contract,  so  that 
learning  to  teach  in  Chinese  is  out  of  the  question.     English 


21S  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

is  the  foreign  language  of  the  Orient  and  it  is  fast  becoming 
tme  tliat  no  man  can  consider  himself  educated  unless  he 
knows  something  of  it.  The  second  factor,  the  matter  of 
technical  terms  is  also  difficult.  There  has  been  a  desultory 
work  on  the  compilation  of  technical  terms,  but  it  has  not 
reached  the  natural  sciences  and  may  not  for  a  long  time. 
By  the  rules  of  the  Chinese  language,  it  is  improper  to 
create  new  characters,  i.e.,  to  coin  new  words.  It  would 
be  equivalent  to  making  new  words  in  a  modern  language 
without  going  to  the  dead  languages  for  the  roots.  What 
must  be  done  is  to  combine  existing  characters  so  as  to  give 
the  requisite  meaning,  where  a  single  ideograph  does  not 
suffice  to  express  the  thought.  Thus  one  is  confined  to  a 
choice  of  say  forty  thousand  characters  with  their  meanings 
which  originated  when  the  world  was  comparatively  primi- 
tive, together  with  combinations  of  the  same.  The  difficulty 
is  that  what  would  correspond  to  a  polysyllabic  word  with 
us  becomes  a  string  of  characters  a  definition  in  fact,  ex- 
pressed in  what  must  be  lucid  Chinese.  The  result  is  some- 
times weird.  A  short  cut  but  worse  expedient  is  the  trans- 
literation of  the  sound  of  the  foreign  word.  Here  the  trouble 
is  that  beside  having  absolutely  no  meaning  to  the  uninitiated 
the  sound  values  of  different  characters  vary  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  and  what  might  be  a  fair  imitation  in 
one  place  would  have  little  resemblance  in  another.  In 
spite  of  what  we  may  say  about  the  difficulties,  the  modern 
writers  on  every  subject  under  the  sun  go  on  coining  new 
terms  (not  new  characters)  and  many  of  them  are  very  pat. 
The  same  will  be  done  in  medicine  in  time.  It  should  be 
undertaken  by  a  government  commission  if  suitable  men  can 
be  found.  It  is  a  very  difficult  task  if  well  done,  for  it  com- 
bines an  extensive  knowledge  of  Chinese  characters,  a  thor- 
ough technical  knowledge  of  the  science  whose  terms  are 
translated,  e.g.,  medicine,  and  that  masterly  quality  which 
uses  just  the  right  word  to  express  each  shade  of  meaning. 
Perhaps  the  men  can  be  found  now;  perhaps  we  shall  have  to 
wait  a  few  years.  The  Japanese  met  the  same  difficulties 
and  solved  them  as  far  as  they  have  been  solved,  as  the  Chi- 
nese are  doing.     They  began  by  teaching  technical  subjects 


WESTERNIZING   OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE        219 

in  the  language  of  the  country  which  they  took  as  their  model 
in  that  particular  branch.  Medicine  fell  to  German  and  1 
understand  that  even  yet  some  of  the  most  technical  parts 
of  medicine  are  studied  in  that  language.  The  Japanese 
use  the  Chinese  classical  language,  having  derived  it  with 
much  of  their  culture  from  China  many  centuries  ago.  It 
might  be  asked  why  the  Chinese  do  not  use  the  Japanese 
terms  or  even  the  Japanese  textbooks.  The  answer  is  that 
the  Japanese  use  many  characters  in  other  senses  than  the 
Chinese  do,  so  that  the  meaning  is  not  clear;  they  use  many 
unusual  characters;  and  their  whole  literary  style  is  not 
pleasing  or  shall  we  say  correct,  from  the  Chinese  standpoint. 
Moreover,  the}^  have  used  many  transUterations  of  the 
sounds  of  foreign  terms,  accurate  perhaps  when  pronounced 
in  Japanese,  but  meaningless  when  given  the  Chinese  sounds. 
And  moreover,  the  Chinese  sound  values,  as  I  have  pointed 
out,  are  not  the  same  everywhere.  The  China  Medical 
Missionary  Association  and  those  who  agree  with  their  view- 
point, that  a  great  country  like  China  ultimately  must 
study  and  write  about  every  subject,  technical  or  otherwise, 
in  their  own  language,  have  taken  the  bull  by  the  horns  and 
have  compiled  an  English-Chinese  Medical  Lexicon,  cover- 
ing the  commoner  medical  terms  and  will  add  to  it  as  new 
editions  appear.  It  has  some  faults.  Some  terms  are 
poor.  Some  rules  of  Chinese  composition  occasionally  are 
broken,  but  it  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  It  will  be 
tried  by  fire  and  the  good  will  remain. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  subject  of  modern  medical  liter- 
ature in  the  Chinese  language.  It  is  not  a  large  subject, 
more's  the  pity.  I  have  noted  the  abortive  attempt  of  a 
Jesuit  father  to  translate  an  anatomy,  and  the  more  fruit- 
ful labors  of  Dr.  Hobson  in  Canton.  Dr.  Kerr,  of  Canton, 
wrote  several  treatises,  as  did  several  others,  but  it  is  since 
1900  that  most  has  been  done.  The  works  now  translated 
and  published  by  the  pubhcation  committee  of  the  China 
Medical  Missionary  Association  comprise  twenty-three 
titles,  including  most  but  not  all  of  the  fundamental  branches 
of  medicine.  Other  books  are  in  the  press  and  still  others 
are   being    translated.     Within   a   few  years  when  China 


220  CHARLES   W.    YOUNG 

htvs  men  of  her  own  thoroughly  trained  in  medicine  and  in 
in  tho  otlior  sciences,  tlie  Chinese  language  will  be  employed 
in  tlie  government  colleges.  Of  that  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
At  present  is  is  a  question  of  whether  it  is  better  to  make  the 
student  do  the  work  of  getting  sufficient  English  to  grasp 
the  technicalities  of  medicine,  and  after  he  has  obtained  the 
training,  be  unable  to  transmit  what  he  has  learned  to  his 
countrymen  who  do  not  understand  English,  because  he 
has  no  technical  terms;  or,  to  make  the  teacher  learn  Chinese 
and  create  a  literature  in  medicine  with  the  help,  of  course, 
of  Chinese  teachers,  who  see  that  the  style  is  correct.  In 
our  own  college  we  require  the  students  to  have  some  knowl- 
edge of  English  and  to  continue  the  study  of  both  that  and 
classical  Chinese  throughout  their  course  unless  excused  for 
special  proficiency.  The  aim  is  to  make  EngUsh  a  second- 
ary language  as  students  in  this  country  have  German  and 
French  for  collateral  reading  and  I  believe  that  we  are  antici- 
pating the  condition  that  will  prevail  in  nearly  all  schools  a 
few  years  hence,  when  those  who  wish  to  study  in  a  foreign 
language  will  seek  also  the  greater  faciUties  of  some  foreign 
land. 

For  more  than  fifty  years  Chinese  have  been  going  to  the 
West  for  medical  training.  So  far  as  I  can  find  any  record 
the  first  to  take  a  degree  was  Dr.  Wang  Fen,  who  graduated 
at  Edinborough  in  1857.  He  offered  his  services  to  the 
London  ^'klissionary  Society  and  was  in  charge  of  the  hospital 
of  the  Medical  Alissionary  Society  in  Canton  for  a  number 
of  years.  Since  then  a  number  of  Chinese  have  studied 
both  in  Europe  and  America.  With  the  great  influx  of  Chi- 
nese students  since  1900  and  especially  since  the  migrations 
to  America  that  have  resulted  from  the  return  of  the  Boxer 
indenmity  by  the  United  States,  the  number  has  increased. 
At  the  present  time  the  bureau  supervising  students  has  a 
record  of  seven  now  studying  medicine,  two  sanitary  engi- 
neering and  one  sanitary  chemistry. 

Finally,  where  does  western  medicine  stand  today  in  the 
estimate  of  the  Chinese?  That  depends  on  the  precise 
moment  at  which  you  speak.  The  change  that  is  going  on 
in  China  at  present  is  stupendous.     It  is  safe  to  say  that  the 


WESTERNIZING   OF   CHINESE   MEDICAL   PRACTICE        221 

officials  and  upper  classes  have  come  into  close  contact  with 
western  ideas  and  culture  more  in  the  last  decade  than  in  the 
preceding  century  and  that  the  last  year  has  meant  more  in 
progress  than  the  preceding  ten.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
if  the  Chinese  government  had  known  a  tithe  of  what  it  does 
now,  the  Boxer  delusion  would  have  been  impossible.  There 
are  still  old  officials  who  did  not  learn  anything  from  that 
convulsion  but  are  wondering  what  all  the  recent  fuss  is 
about.  There  are  others  who  are  revising  their  opinions. 
Let  me  quote  from  the  address  of  Hsi  Liang,  viceroy  of  Alan- 
churia  at  the  opening  of  the  International  Plague  Confer- 
ence in  Mukden  in  April,  1911: 

We  Chinese  have  for  a  long  time  believed  in  an  ancient  system  of 
medical  practice,  which  the  experience  of  centuries  has  found  to  be 
serviceable  for  manj^  ailments,  but  the  lessons  taught  by  this  epi- 
demic, which  until  three  or  four  months  ago  had  been  unknown  in 
China,  have  been  great,  and  have  compelled  several  of  us  to  revise 
our  former  ideas  of  this  valuable  branch  of  knowledge.  We  feel 
that  the  progress  of  medical  science  must  go  hand  in  hand  \\ith 
the  advancement  of  learning,  and  that  if  railways,  telegraphs, 
electric  light  and  other  modern  inventions  are  indispensable  to  the 
material  welfare  of  this  country,  we  should  also  make  use  of  the 
wonderful  resources  of  western  medicine  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people I  trust  and  believe  too,  that  modern  medi- 
cine and  especially  sanitary  science  will  in  future  receive  more 
attention  in  this  country  than  it  has  hitherto  done,  and  we  shall  be 
better  prepared  to  deal  with  similar  epidemics  when  the}^  arise. 
My  great  regret  is  that  as  many  as  40,000  lives  have  been  lost  in 
these  Provinces,  especially  including  those  of  some  of  our  foreign 
doctors,  whose  unselfish  devotion  to  duty  and  the  welfare  of  our 
people  I  shall  always  remember. 

At  the  first  graduation  exercises  of  the  Union  Medical 
College  in  Peking  in  April  1911,  the  Privy  Councillor  Na 
T'ung  gave  the  principal  address.     He  said  in  part: 

There  is  abundant  proof  that  neglect  of  the  laws  of  sanitation 
and  absence  of  proper  medical  care  have  brought  about  more 
deaths  of  officers  and  men  in  the  fiercest  of  modern  warfare  than 
the  destructive  power  of  the  terrible  weapons  of  war.  What  is 
true  in  times  of  war  is  no  less  true  in  the  times  of  peace.  We  have 
just  had  an  illustration  in  the  ]meumonic  plague  which  raged  so 

fiercely  in  Manchuria In  figiiting  against  the  i)lague 

— and  the  battle  was  a  splendid  one — the  government  found  tiint 
it  did  not  have  a  sufficient  number  of  doctors  available  to  do  the 


'2'2'2  CHARLES    W.    YOUNG 

work  and  a  call  for  volunteers  was  issued.  Among  others,  several 
prt)fossors  and  students  of  your  college  responded  and  at  once  left 
for  Harbin,  where  the  plague  was  seen  in  its  worst  form.  Leaving 
self  and  family  out  of  consideration,  they  thought  only  of  the  good 
thev  couUl  do,  and  as  doctors  they  remembered  that  their  duty 
aiui  ambition  was  to  fight  disease  and  death:  And  it  is  this 
spirit,  I  believe,  should  inspire  you  throughout  your  Uves,  the  spirit 
of  service  and  sacrifice. 

Within  the  year  1911,  the  Chinese  government  twice 
sought  the  cooperation  of  the  Union  Medical  College  in 
Peking  when  their  own  resources  were  insufficient.  The 
first  was  in  the  case  of  the  epidemic  in  pneumonic  plague 
in  ^Manchuria  referred  to  by  Na  T'ung  and  the  second  was 
during  the  revolution.  The  imperial  army  medical  corps 
was  altogether  inadequate  for  the  task  and  desired  the  Medi- 
cal College  to  cooperate.  The  reply  was  in  the  affirmative 
provided  a  Red  Cross  Society  could  be  organized  and  that 
the  imperial  government  would  apply  the  rules  of  the  Geneva 
Convention  to  the  treatment  of  wounded  rebels.  It  took 
a  month  of  the  time  of  the  most  active  hostilities  before  they 
could  be  persuaded  to  do  so,  but  in  the  end  these  civilized 
rules  prevailed  and  three  companies  with  nine  teachers  and 
about  forty  students  went  to  the  front.  Aside  from  this 
and  the  efforts  of  other  Red  Cross  Societies  in  China  where- 
ever  there  were  medical  missionaries  their  hospitals  if  re- 
quired were  filled  with  wounded.  On  the  rebel  side  there 
was  little  army  medical  corps  work  but  several  organiza- 
tions including  the  Red  Cross  Society  in  Shanghai  sent  com- 
panies to  the  scene  of  hostihties.  The  pubUc  service  during 
these  two  visitations  of  pestilence  and  war  has  aided  greatly 
in  showing  the  officials  in  China  what  western  medicine  is 
by  actual  demonstration.  After  the  plague  one  heard  on 
every  side  among  officials  of  the  necessity  of  reform  in  medi- 
cal education  and  in  supervision  of  public  health.  There  is 
no  question  but  that  the  new  government  will  move  rapidly 
in  this  direction  and  that  the  institutions  now  at  work  and 
many  others  will  be  needed  to  cooperate  with  those  that  the 
government  will  establish  to  train  physicians  and  public 
health  officers  for  new  China. 


THE  OPIUM  ABOLITION  QUESTION 

By  J.  0.  P.  Bland,  formerly  of  the  Imperial  Maritime  Cus- 
toms, Secretary  to  the  Shanghai  Municipality 
and  "Times"  Correspondent  in  China 

I  am  deeply  sensible,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  of  the  honor 
conferred  and  of  my  privilege  in  addressing  so  distinguished 
and  representative  an  audience.  I  am  also  sensible  of  the 
fact  that  the  opinions  which  I  am  about  to  lay  before  you  in 
connection  with  the  opium  question  in  China  are  very  differ- 
ent, on  the  whole,  from  those  which  you  are  accustomed 
to  hear  and  to  hold.  The  subject  of  opium  production  and 
smoking  in  China  is  one  which  many  writers  have  discovered 
to  be  of  an  extremely  difficult  and  thorny  nature.  Mr.  H.  B. 
Morse,  an  American  who  for  many  years  served  the  Chinese 
government  loyally  and  well,  writing  on  this  subject  observes 
that  he  who  tries  to  investigate  the  facts  with  no  predisposi- 
tion to  either  side  is  likely  to  find  himself  branded  as  a 
trimmer  by  the  one  party  and  a  Laodicean  by  the  other,  with 
no  opportunity  to  defend  himself. 

In  bringing  before  you  the  present  aspect  of  the  opium 
question  and  the  views  and  opinions  which  I  and  many  other 
observers  hold  on  this  subject,  I  would  ask  you  to  believe 
that  I  am  actuated  by  a  feeling  of  sincere  sjonpathy  and 
regard  for  the  Chinese  people  and  that  the  views  which  I 
hold  are  entirely  sincere,  even  where  they  differ  from  those 
advanced  by  the  missionary  bodies,  the  anti-opium  societies 
and  many  earnest  Chinese  reformers  in  China.  I  am  awaie 
that  one  runs  the  risk  of  being  misjudged  in  this  matter,  but 
it  is  a  risk  which  must  be  faced  by  those  who  sincerely  believe 
that  the  proceedings  of  the  anti-opium  societies,  initiated 
with  the  very  best  of  motives,  are  likely  in  the  long  run  to 
aggravate  the  evil  of  opium  smoking  in  China,  even  after  the 
Indian  trade  has  been  completely  abolished,  and  to  a  certain 
extent  because  of  the  abolition  of  that  trade. 

223 


224  J.    O.    p.    BLAND 

Speak iiiji;  for  myself  and  for  many  other  observers  whose 
opinions  are  based  as  much  upon  the  poUtical,  economic  and 
social  aspects  of  the  question  as  upon  its  high  moral  grounds, 
it  seems  to  me  a  matter  for  sincere  congratulation  that 
Great  Britain  has  assented  to  the  abolition  of  the  Indian 
tratle.  a  trafhc  in  itself  highly  demoralizing  to  the  Chinese 
and  therefore  discreditable  to  Great  Britain.  Having  said 
this  much,  however,  it  seems  to  me  necessary  that  we  should 
recognize  the  fact  that  the  practical  issues  of  the  question 
of  opium  abolition  as  a  whole  have  been  very  frequently 
confused  by  too  general  an  acceptance  of  certain  postulates 
loudly  proclaimed  upon  high  moral  grounds.  It  seems  to 
me  that  many  of  the  philanthropists,  missionaries  and  emi- 
nent divines  who  have  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  anti- 
opium  movement  are  afflicted  in  their  field  of  morals  by  the 
same  persistent  delusion  as  that  which  commonly  afflicts  re- 
formers in  the  field  of  political  economics.  ''They  are  all 
pervaded,"  as  Spencer  says,  "by  the  conviction,  now  defi- 
nitely expressed  and  now  taken  as  a  self  evident  truth, 
that  there  needs  but  this  kind  of  instruction  or  that  kind 
of  discipline,  this  mode  of  repression  or  that  system  of  cul- 
ture, to  bring  society  into  a  very  much  better  state. "  Misled 
by  laudable  enthusiasms,  blinded  by  benevolent  hypotheses, 
it  is  a  characteristic  of  the  advocates  of  this  good  cause,  that 
they  are  generally  predisposed  to  ignore  or  to  misinterpret 
those  facts  of  the  situation  which  militate  against  their  own 
conclusions.  Influenced  by  these  enthusiasms,  they  fail  to 
take  into  account,  not  only  the  structural  character  of  the 
Chinese  race  in  particular,  but  the  inherent  weaknesses  of 
humanity  in  general. 

If  we  turn  to  the  history  of  the  agitation  against  the 
Indian  opium  trade,  we  find  that  amongst  the  arguments 
most  frequently  advanced,  two  have  been  most  persistent; 
first,  the  argument  that  Great  Britain  has  forced  the  Indian 
trade  upon  China  at  the  cannon's  mouth,  and  secondly,  that 
the  recent  anti-opium  legislation  introduced  by  the  Chinese 
government  opens  up  a  new  and  particularly  promising 
vision  of  reform.  As  regards  the  first  of  these  two,  the  fal- 
lacy of  the  cannon's  mouth  line  of  argument  has  been  so 


THE    OPIUM    ABOLITION    QUESTION  225 

frequently  demonstrated  by  unbiased  and  competent  writers 
that  the  facts  are  easily  available.  Nevertheless,  it  con- 
tinues to  figure  prominently  in  all  the  activities  of  the  anti- 
opium  societies  and  is  apparently  not  to  be  upset  by  any  re- 
iteration of  historical  fact.  To  give  only  one  recent  instance, 
let  me  quote  to  you  from  a  work  published  a  month  ago, 
Men  and  Manners  of  Modern  China  by  Dr.  Macgowan. 

Seventy  years  ago  [he  says]  a  great  western  power  forced  on 
China  an  opium  treaty  at  the  mouth  of  the  cannon.  Since  then 
not  a  dead  hand  but  a  mailed  fist  has  been  held  up  threateningly 
to  prevent  its  being  evaded.  Her  merchants  have  carried  on  the 
opium  traffic  and  her  warships  have  patrolled  the  eastern  seas, 
to  see  that  they  are  not  defrauded  of  their  rights. 

The  years  dragged  slowly  on  for  China,  and  during  these  opium 
was  slowly  weaving  its  web  over  the  land,  and  its  black  fingers 
were  fastening  themselves  round  the  hearts  of  countless  thousands, 
and  homes  were  being  desolated  by  a  curse  which  the  government 
might  never  try  to  remove,  for  the  iron  fist  was  always  on  guard. 

And  then  the  great  miracle  took  place.  The  passion  that  had 
been  burning  in  the  hearts  of  the  best  men  in  the  country  blazed 
forth  with  a  mighty  fire.  The  conqueror  was  appealed  to  some 
five  years  ago  or  so,  and  slowly  the  mailed  arm  was  dropped. 

The  effect  of  well-meant  but  wholly  inaccurate  statements 
of  this  sort  has  been  clearly  reflected  in  the  attitude  of  many 
Chinese  promoters  of  the  anti-opium  movement  and  has 
resulted  in  diverting  the  attention  of  many  from  the  real 
and  vital  issues  of  that  question  to  the  actually  subordi- 
nate question  of  the  Indian  trade.  This  attitude  of  the 
Chinese  was  most  remarkably  demonstrated  at  the  Hague 
Conference  which  took  place  at  the  close  of  last  year.  I  was 
present,  on  behalf  of  the  London  Times,  on  that  occasion 
and  was  struck  by  the  fact  that,  although  at  this  time  the 
cultivation  of  the  poppy  was  being  rapidly  reintroduced  into 
many  provinces  in  China,  the  attitude  of  the  Chinese  dele- 
gates was  one  of  virtuous  condescension  and  high  moral 
superiority,  so  much  so,  that  they  were  brought  to  book  and 
rebuked  on  more  than  one  occasion.  At  the  end  of  1910 
when,  as  a  result  of  a  wave  of  public  enthusiasm  and  con- 
certed efforts,  sincerely  backed  by  the  Manchu  government, 
opium  cultivation  had  been  reduced  by  something  approxi- 
mating to  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  area  under  poppy,  the 


226  J.    O.    p.    BLAND 

adoption  by  the  Chinese  delegates  of  an  attitude  of  moral 
superiority  might  have  been  condoned;  but  in  1911,  with 
cultivation  again  in  full  swing  it  was  certainly  indefensible. 
The  complete  abolition  line  of  argument,  like  the  cannon's 
mouth  theory,  is  based  upon  fallacies  and  on  untruths  easily 
disprovable.  To  refute  the  cannon's  mouth  legend,  for 
instance,  I  may  observe  that  amongst  the  events  which  led 
up  to  the  treaty  of  Nanking  in  1842,  opium  was  only  one 
factor  and  that  the  question  settled  by  that  treaty  was  not 
the  question  of  the  importation  of  opium  (or  other  goods) 
at  Canton,  but  the  right  of  foreign  envoys  to  treat  directly 
with  the  Chinese  government. 

But  be  this  as  it  may,  the  Indian  opium  trade  may  now 
be  regarded  as  dead,  England's  present  attitude  in  the 
matter  amounting  to  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  game 
is  not  worth  the  scandal,  and  that  the  abolition  of  a  trade 
in  which  only  a  limited  number  of  British  merchants  and 
bankers  and  a  few  millions  of  Indian  agriculturists  are  con- 
cerned, will  be  politically  and  economically  to  the  advantage 
of  the  British  Empire,  quite  apart  from  all  moral  consider- 
ations. Economically,  the  substitution  of  grain  cultivation 
for  opium  in  India  must  in  the  end  be  productive  of  good, 
for  the  enormous  increase  of  population  in  that  country  is 
already  producing  serious  social  and  economic  difficulties  and 
it  must  be  obvious  that  every  field  taken  from  opium  and 
given  to  the  production  of  grain  will  eventually  afford  a 
measure  of  reUef  to  the  pressing  problem  of  the  world's 
food  supply.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  must  be  evi- 
dent that,  now  that  as  China  resumes  the  cultivation  of 
opium  upon  a  large  scale,  the  difficulties  of  the  food  sup- 
ply problem  in  China  are  likely  to  be  aggravated  in  the  near 
future. 

In  order  to  gauge  the  future  action  of  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment and  its  people  in  regard  to  this  question  of  opium,  it 
is  necessary  before  all  to  consider  the  question  of  the  perma- 
nent sincerity  of  the  governing  class.  At  the  Shang-Hai 
Conference  in  1909,  it  was  recorded  as  the  unanimous 
opinion  of  the  International  delegates  that  they  believed  in 
the   "unswerving  sincerity"   of  the  Chinese  government. 


THE    OPIUM   ABOLITION   QUESTION  227 

The  practicability  of  abolishing,  not  only  the  importation 
of  the  foreign  drug,  but  the  cultivation  of  all  native  opium, 
was  from  the  first  a  question  entirely  dependent  upon  this 
matter  of  sincerity.  By  the  opium  edicts  of  1906,  drastic 
measures  were  introduced  which,  in  the  opinion  of  many 
observers  on  the  spot,  were  construed  as  evidence  of  new  and 
sincere  intentions  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  government. 
Nevertheless,  the  whole  history  and  record  of  that  govern- 
ment precludes  belief  in  the  sincerity  of  the  movement  and 
on  the  other  hand,  contains  evidence  of  a  persistent  and 
deliberate  intention  on  the  part  of  the  mandarin  class  (as 
distinct  from  the  earnest  reformers)  to  take  advantage  of 
the  enthusiastic  pubhc  opinion  amongst  the  Chinese  and  of 
the  sympathy  of  foreign  nations,  to  evolve,  for  its  own  ulti- 
mate benefit,  a  system  of  monopoUes  in  the  native  trade, 
coincident  with  the  abolition  of  the  importation  of  Indian 
opium.  That  this  has  been  the  traditional  policy  of  the 
Chinese  government  really  requires  but  Uttle  proof;  but  I 
may  cite  as  one  remarkable  piece  of  evidence  the  opinion 
recorded  as  far  back  as  1875,  by  Johannes  von  Gumpach. 
He  wrote: 

If  the  British  government  were  to  listen  to  the  Tsungli  Yamen's 
insidious  arguments,  supported  though  they  be  by  ill-directed 
missionary  zeal,  and  yield  to  the  Yamen's  intimidations  by  con- 
senting to  the  prohibition  of  poppy  culture  in  India,  it  would  after 
all  only  sacrifice  the  legitimate  interests  of  British  commerce  and 
the  Indian  industry  and  to  what  end?  To  the  end  that  the  govern- 
ment of  China  might,  under  the  shading  mask  of  its  impotence, 
encourage  the  cultivation  of  the  poppy  at  home;  stealthil}'-  and  grad- 
ually add  to  its  salt  monopoly  that  of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
opium,  and  impose  upon  the  people  a  deleterious  drug,  while  ex- 
cluding from  the  country  a  superior  preparation. 

If  we  turn  now  to  the  attitude  of  Young  China  toward 
the  opium  question,  we  find  in  the  opinion  of  most  ob- 
servers and  notably  of  the  missionary  bodies,  between  the 
years  1907  and  1910,  a  general  consensus  of  opinion  that  a 
new  spirit  had  been  created,  bringing  with  it  the  sure  promise 
of  better  things  and  good  hopes  of  the  complete  eradication 
of  opium  smoking  throughout  the  country.  Many  observers 
on  the  spot,  while  accepting  the  opium  edicts  as  evidence  of 


228  J.    O.    p.    BLAND 

sincerity,  still  retained  doubts  as  to  the  practicability  of  the 
measures  proposed  by  the  edicts  of  190G.  I  myself  was  at 
Poking:  at  that  time  and  in  frequent  communication  with 
Tanjx  Shao-yi,  the  initiator  of  the  opium  abolition  edicts  and 
tiio  most  prominent  of  all  the  reformers.  I  shared  with 
otluTs  tlie  belief  in  the  sincerity  of  the  originators  of  this 
mc)\ement  at  the  beginning,  but  as  time  went  on,  I  was 
reluctantly  compelled  to  modify  my  faith  in  that  sincerity 
by  reason  of  the  indisputable  evidence  of  certain  facts  which 
came  to  my  own  knowledge.  For  instance,  one  of  the  regu- 
lations by  which  the  abolition  of  opium  was  to  be  secured 
within  a  period  of  ten  years  was  that  which  prohibited  the 
sale  of  any  anti-opium  remedies  containing  forms  of  opium, 
such  as  morphia  pills.  The  manufacture  and  sale  of  pills, 
containing  opium  in  any  form  was  forbidden  under  strict 
penalties;  this  measure  was  obviously  necessary  if  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  opium  pipe  was  not  to  be  replaced  by  something 
infinitely  worse.  At  the  beginning  of  1907,  it  came  to  the 
knowledge  of  several  observers  of  the  movement  in  Peking 
and  especially  of  the  British  Legation,  which  was  naturally 
following  the  results  of  the  edicts  with  great  interest,  that  a 
large  number  of  brands  of  so-called  anti-opium  pills  was  be- 
ing manufactured  and  sold.  Amongst  them  were  many  which 
after  being  analyzed  in  London,  were  found  to  contain  a  very 
large  percentage  of  morphia.  One  pill  was  being  sold  at 
Peking  and  Tientsin  under  Government  auspices;  it  was 
manufactured  upon  the  prescription  of  a  foreign-educated 
Chinese  doctor,  a  Cantonese,  nearly  related  by  marriage  to 
Mr.  Tang  Shao-yi.  Upon  ascertaining  the  facts,  I  called  upon 
]\Ir.  Tang  and  pointed  out  the  foredoomed  futility  of  opium 
regulations  which  could  be  violated  in  this  way  and  the  very 
bad  impression  which  must  be  created  by  the  fact  that  a 
person  so  closely  related  to  himself  should  thus  be  making 
profit  out  of  the  illegal  sale  of  these  dangerous  pills.  No 
action  was  taken  in  the  matter  however  and  to  this  day  the 
sale  of  anti-opium  pills  containing  morphia  continues  practi- 
cally unchecked  in  most  parts  of  China,  and  the  illicit  morphia 
trade  brings  large  profits  to  British  manufacturers  of  the 
drug.     A  second  disquieting  incident  occurred  when   the 


THE    OPIUM   ABOLITION   QUESTION  229 

American  government,  actuated  by  a  laudable  desire  to 
assist  the  Chinese  in  their  work  of  opium  abohtion,  gave 
encouragement  and  letters  of  introduction  to  the  Chinese 
authorities  to  an  expert  in  the  cure  of  drug  habitues,  Mr. 
C.  B.  Towns  of  New  York.  Mr,  Towns  came  to  Peking  and 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  cure  Chinese  opium  smokers  by  a 
process  of  his  own  which  he  guaranteed  to  be  effective  within 
a  reasonably  short  period  of  time.  In  order  to  test  by 
practical  experiments  the  nature  and  results  of  his  treat- 
ment, I  arranged,  in  consultation  with  the  doctor  of  the 
British  Legation  to  watch  the  cure  in  the  case  of  a  dozen 
confirmed  opium  smokers  who  would  submit  to  the  test. 
These  men,  all  personally  known  to  me,  were  treated  for  four 
days  by  the  Towns  method  and  after  it  they  were  certainly 
cured  for  the  time  being  of  any  desire  to  smoke  opium.  For 
six  months  afterwards,  during  which  time  their  movements 
were  watched,  they  still  remained  free  from  the  vice.  Never- 
theless, in  spite  of  these  and  other  successful  experiments 
with  private  individual  Chinese,  no  attempt  was  made  to 
encourage  the  introduction  of  Mr.  Towns's  treatment  on 
any  wide  scale  and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  his  own  repeated 
attempts  to  secure  premises  for  a  hospital  in  Tien-Tsin  city 
were  blocked  by  the  opposition  of  local  Chinese  officials.  I 
mention  these  two  cases  as  evidence  of  the  traditional 
Mandarin  attitude,  many  more  instances  of  which  might  be 
cited,  which  effectively  preclude  any  robust  faith  in  the 
sincerity  of  the  leaders  of  Young  China  in  the  national  anti- 
opium  movement. 

The  three  years  of  experiment  and  test  which,  under  the 
British  opium  agreement  of  1907,  were  to  demonstrate  the 
sincerity  and  the  ability  of  the  Chinese  government  in  the 
matter  of  opium  abolition  resulted,  as  I  have  said,  in  a  reduc- 
tion of  about  25  per  cent  in  the  total  cultivation  of  the  poppy 
throughout  the  provinces.  This  result  was  very  largely  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  Manchu  government,  regarding  opium 
abolition  as  one  of  the  things  upon  which  Young  China  was 
keenly  determined,  and  fearing  to  increase  the  unrest  and 
disloyalty  of  the  southern  provinces,  lent  the  whole  weight 
of  its  authority  to  the  movement  for  suppressing  poppy  cul- 


230  J.    O.    p.    BLAND 

tivation.  Sir  Alexander  Hosie,  reporting  to  the  British 
government  on  the  progress  made  in  the  suppression  of 
ciihivation  in  the  various  provinces,  stated  that  the  farmers 
themselves  had  accepted  serious  losses  and  given  up  planting 
the  poppy  for  three  causes.  First,  belief  in  the  sincerity  of 
the  government  intentions.  This  took  some  time  to  estab- 
lish, but  in  1910,  it  was  widespread.  Second,  local  influence 
of  the  literati  and  gentry,  exercised  in  support  of  the  govern- 
ment's programme.  Third,  the  popular  recognition  of  the 
social  and  economic  evils  arising  from  the  opium  habit. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  good  will  shown  by  the  Manchu 
government  in  this  matter  was  of  very  powerful  assistance 
to  the  cause  which  the  opium  reformers  had  at  heart,  and 
that,  without  it,  the  expression  of  pubUc  opinion  could  not 
have  produced  any  such  good  results  as  were  actually 
attained  in  the  summer  of  1910.  At  this  stage,  however, 
Young  China,  carried  away  by  its  own  enthusiasms  and  by 
its  impatience  to  achieve  still  more  rapid  results,  began  to 
agitate  for  the  complete  abolition  of  the  Indian  trade  as  the 
most  important  thing  to  be  secured.  At  the  same  time,  it 
took  the  question  out  of  the  plane  of  philanthropy  and  moral- 
ity into  that  of  poUtics.  The  manner  in  which  the  question 
was  discussed  by  the  provincial  assemblies  afforded  con- 
spicuous proof  of  the  change  which  had  taken  place.  The 
violent  agitation  which  was  commenced  in  England  and  in 
China  at  this  date  for  the  immediate  abolition  of  the  Indian 
trade,  eventually  led  the  British  government  to  agree  to 
the  convention  which  was  concluded  in  Peking  in  May,  1911. 
By  virtue  of  this  new  treaty,  a  heavy  additional  duty  was 
placed  upon  the  Indian  drug  and  it  was  at  the  same  time 
agreed,  that  any  province  in  China  which  was  able  to  show  a 
"clean  slate,"  that  is  to  say,  to  prove  that  it  had  completely 
abolished  opium  cultivation  within  its  own  borders,  should, 
ipso  facto,  be  entitled  to  exclude  all  further  importations  of 
the  Indian  drug.  By  this  eminently  fair  arrangement,  it 
was  left  for  each  pro\'ince  to  make  good  its  own  pledges  and 
to  give  immediate  effect  to  the  reforms  for  which  they  pro- 
fessed to  be  anxious.  Nevertheless,  at  this  time,  while  the 
Cantonese  were  agitating  in  all  parts  of  the  country  and 


THE    OPIUM   ABOLITION   QUESTION  231 

denouncing  the  British  government  for  "forcing  Indian 
opium  upon  China,"  the  lamentable  fact  was  becoming 
apparent  that,  in  those  very  provinces  where  Young  China 
had  been  most  active  in  its  propaganda,  the  treaty  with 
Great  Britain  was  being  violated  and  native  opium  was  being 
cultivated  for  the  pecuniary  benefit  of  the  local  officials. 
At  the  present  day,  whilst  the  leaders  of  the  republic.  Sun 
Yat  Sen  and  Li  Yuan  Hung,  continue  to  press  for  the  abro- 
gation of  the  treaty  of  May,  1911,  and  to  demand  that  no 
more  shipments  of  Indian  opium  shall  henceforth  be  made, 
they  remain  curiously  indifferent  to  the  fact  that  the  culti- 
vation of  native  opium  has  been  resumed  on  an  unprece- 
dentedly  large  scale.  Even  in  those  provinces  of  Shensi  and 
Szechuen  which  in  1910  had  been  reported  clear  of  opium 
cultivation,  it  is  now  unfortunately  true  that  the  poppy  is 
grown  in  large  quantities.  More  than  this,  there  is  every 
evidence  of  a  widespread  intention  in  many  provinces  to 
establish  official  monopolies  for  the  control  of  the  trade  in 
Chinese  opium.  The  province  of  Chekiang,  for  instance, 
which  has  for  sometime  past  been  illegally  and  arbitrarily 
prohibiting  all  movements  of  Indian  opium  within  its  borders 
on  grounds  of  high  morality,  and  appealing  to  the  moral 
dignity  and  conscience  of  Great  Britain  to  support  it  in  this 
line  of  action,  has,  at  the  same  time,  gathered  a  large  harvest 
of  opium,  cultivated  up  to  the  very  walls  of  the  prefectual 
city.  In  the  provinces  of  Canton,  Yunnan  and  Kiangsi, 
the  republican  authorities  have  officially  organized  local 
monopolies  for  the  control  and  sale  of  Chinese  opium. 

The  effect  on  trade  and  politics  of  the  violation  of  treaties, 
such  as  have  recently  been  manifested  by  the  republican 
authorities  in  several  provinces,  cannot  fail  to  create  an 
exceedingly  bad  impression  abroad  and  thus  to  place  further 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  progress  and  prosperity  of  the 
Chinese  people.  If  we  consider  only  the  disorganization 
of  trade  and  finances  which  must  arise  from  the  illegal 
restrictions  placed  by  the  Shanghai  and  Chekiang  officials  on 
the  importation  of  Indian  opium,  it  is  evident  that,  whore  a 
cargo  to  the  value  of  about  six  millions  sterling  is  arbitrarily 
held  up  and  prevented  from  entering  into  consumption,  the 


232  J.    O.    p.    BLAND 

consequences  cannot  be  negligible,  for  the  Indian  opium 
trade,  like  other  hnuiches  of  commerce  in  the  Far  East,  is 
ct)ntiucted  on  credit  handled  by  native  and  foreign  banks, 
and  any  disorganization  of  that  credit  must  inevitably  react 
far  and  wide,  to  the  general  disturbance  of  the  economic 
situation  and  to  the  detriment  of  the  country's  future  trade. 

Looking  at  the  question  from  another  point  of  view;  that 
is  to  say,  considering  it  in  its  political  aspect,  the  cessation 
of  the  Indian  opium  trade,  unaccompanied  by  cessation  of 
the  production  of  the  native  drug,  must  tend  to  increase  and 
accelerate  the  movement,  already  marked  throughout  China, 
towards  provincial  autonomy.  The  Import  duties  hereto- 
fore levied  on  the  Indian  drug  formed  an  important  item 
in  the  central  government's  budget  of  revenue.  These  will 
now  be  cut  off,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  provinces,  under 
their  local  monopolies,  will  collect  large  sums  at  the  disposal 
of  the  local  bureaus  for  provincial  purposes.  That  is  to 
say,  at  a  time  when  all  British  and  American  opinion  concurs 
in  the  urgent  necessity  for  the  creation  and  maintenance  of  a 
strong  central  government,  the  results  of  the  anti-opium 
movement,  as  at  present  indicated,  will  aid  in  placing  in- 
creased revenues  at  the  disposal  of  the  provinces  and  reduce 
Peking's  control  over  what  were  national  funds. 

Finally,  the  Chinese  government's  real  or  professed 
inability  to  control  the  provinces,  as  regards  observance  of 
the  British  treaty  of  May,  1911,  cannot  fail  to  produce  results 
seriously  prejudicial  to  China's  credit  abroad  and  ultimately 
to  her  borrowing  capacity;  for,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by 
competent  critics,  if  China  cannot  prevent  the  maritime 
province  of  Chekiang  from  defying  the  law  and  from  violat- 
ing the  central  government's  obligations  under  the  treaty 
referred  to,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  government  will  be  able 
hereafter  to  exercise  that  control  of  Lekin  or  supervision  of 
the  salt  gabelle,  which  it  is  understood,  are  to  form  the  col- 
lateral security  of  future  loans. 

If  we  turn  now  to  a  brief  consideration  of  the  moral 
aspect  of  the  opium  smoking  question,  it  is  impossible  to 
avoid  introducing  the  commonplace  comparison  or  analogy 
between  the  smoking  of  opium  by  the  Chinese  and  the  con- 


THE    OPIUM    ABOLITION    QUESTION  233 

sumption  of  alcohol  in  European  countries.  The  uses  and 
abuses  of  opium  are  undoubtedly  very  similar  in  their 
causes  and  effects  to  those  with  which  we  are  familiar  in 
the  case  of  alcoholic  drinks.  That  the  excessive  use  of 
opium  is  a  vicious  and  degrading  habit,  none  will  deny  but 
the  actual  facts  are  that  the  Chinaman's  tendency  to  consume 
opium  in  excess  have  been  very  widely  exaggerated  and 
generally  distorted.  Examining  the  facts  in  the  light  of  such 
dispassionate  and  methodical  inquiry  as  is  available,  we  find, 
in  the  report  of  the  Straits  Settlements  Opium  Commission 
of  1907-08,  evidence  of  a  very  detailed  kind  which  appear 
to  afford  ample  justification  for  that  Commission's  conclusion 
that  "The  opium  habit  is  comparable  to  the  European's 
use  of  alcohol  and  tobacco  and  that  it  must  be  regarded  as 
the  expression  among  the  Chinese  of  the  universal  tendency 
to  some  form  of  indulgence."  In  other  words,  if  we  accept 
this  conclusion  even  in  a  limited  sense  and  with  mental 
reservations,  it  seems  to  me  an  imperative  and  inevitable 
conclusion,  from  all  European  experience,  that  a  reasonable 
recognition  of  the  limitations  of  human  nature  and  human 
weaknesses  will  be  more  conducive  in  the  long  run  to  the 
ends  of  public  morality,  than  the  attempt  to  give  effect  to 
the  impossible  idea  of  complete  abolition  of  opium  cultiva- 
tion or  any  other  doctrine  of  the  extremists. 

The  Straits  Settlements  report,  above  referred  to,  embod- 
ies a  systematic  attempt  to  render  a  complete  and  impartial 
account  of  the  question  of  opium  smoking,  and  its  conclu- 
sions emphasize  the  important  fact,  which  the  anti-opium 
societies  have  generally  ignored,  that  the  vast  majority  of 
Chinese  opium  smokers  are  habitually  moderate  consumers. 
Says  this  report: 

The  evils  arising  from  the  use  of  opium,  were  made  the  subject 
of  specific  inquiry  from  nearly  every  witness,  and  medical  wit- 
nesses were  practically  unanimous,  with  the  exception  of  those 
who  held  views  strongly  opposed  to  opium,  that  opium  smoking 
in  moderation  was  relatively  harmless.  Even  if  carried  to  exc(>ss, 
no  organic  change  in  the  body  could  be  detected,  the  results  being 
chiefly  functional  evils.  It  was  also  found,  as  would  be  the  case 
with  alcohol,  impossible  to  laj-  down  a  standard  (;onsumption  which 
could  be  regarded  as  use  in  moderation  or  use  in  excess,  owing  to 
the  varying  physiques  and  constitutions  of  smokers. 


234  J.    O.    p.    BLAND 

Keportiiig  to  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  year  1872, 
the  opinion  of  a  largo  number  of  medical  men  was  recorded: 
"That  tiuTo  is  a  certain  aptitude  in  the  stimulant  of  opium 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  Chinese  people,  and  that  the 
universal  use  of  the  opium  pipe  among  the  Chinese  must 
certainly  be  owing  to  some  peculiarity  of  their  mental  and 
nervous  constitution."  That  this  weakness,  or  form  of  in- 
dulgence, is  peculiarly  indicated  by  the  physical  and  nerv- 
ous systems  of  the  Chinese  race  is  proved  by  the  fact  that 
the  Thibetan,  Mohammedan  and  Mongolian  inhabitants  of 
Kan  Suh  and  other  centers  of  opium  cultivation  are  practi- 
cally immune. 

The  tendency  to  smoke  opium  which  the  Chinaman  car- 
ries about  with  him  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  is  logically 
and  naturally  comparable  with  the  Anglo-Saxon's  tendency 
or  predilection  towards  alcoholic  strimulants.  The  compari- 
son is  a  commonplace  one,  I  admit,  and  two  blacks  do  not 
make  a  white,  but  many  years  ago  a  dispassionate  and 
thoroughly  competent  observer  of  the  opium  question,  Mr. 
Meadows,  observed  that,  "Although  the  substances  are 
different,  I  can  see  no  difference  at  all  as  to  the  morality  of 
producing,  selling  and  consuming  them,  while  the  only  differ- 
ence I  can  observe  in  the  consequences  of  consumption  is, 
that  the  opium  smoker  is  not  so  violent,  so  maudlin  or  so 
disgusting  as  the  drunkard." 

The  opium  problem  appears  to  reduce  itself  naturally 
under  three  heads.  First:  Is  opium  necessary  to  the  Chi- 
nese, as  alcohol  is  to  the  European?  On  this  point  the  evi- 
dence of  the  Straits  Settlements  Opium  Commission  appears 
to  be  conclusive,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  so  long  as 
opium  continues  to  be  produced  and  available,  either  by 
legitimate  trade  or  by  smuggling,  the  Chinese  people  will 
contmue  to  smoke  it. 

Second:  Is  the  total  abolition  of  opium  smoking  and  opium 
cultivation  possible?  In  the  Straits  Settlements  report  it 
was  recorded  as  a  generally  recognized  truth  that  "Without 
an  international  agreement  to  stop  the  growth  of  the  poppy, 
the  success  of  any  prohibitive  legislation  would  be  highly 
problematical."     At  the  International  Conference  held  at 


THE    OPIUM    ABOLITION    QUESTION  235 

The  Hague  last  January,  the  resolutions  deaUng  with  the 
abolition  of  the  opium  traffic  were  passed  upon  the  tacit 
assumption  that  China  would  continue  to  justify  Europe's 
faith  in  her  "unswerving  sincerity,"  and  in  her  ability  to 
put  down  opium  cultivation;  but  it  was  unanimously  ad- 
mitted and  agreed  that  the  idea  of  any  international  agree- 
ment or  legislation,  to  control  and  prevent  the  cultivation 
of  the  poppy  throughout  the  world,  was  utterly  impracti- 
cable and  visionary.  Even  the  measures  proposed  by  the 
American  delegates  for  the  control  of  the  movement  and 
sale  of  opium,  and  the  British  suggestions  for  the  control 
of  the  trade  in  morphine,  cocaine  and  other  drugs  by  means 
of  an  international  agreement  and  pharmacy  laws,  were 
regarded  by  the  majority  of  the  delegates  as  counsels  of 
perfection,  Utopian  schemes,  suitable  for  presentation  at 
The  Hague  but  unattainable  in  practice.  As  regards  any 
idea  of  an  international  self-denying  ordinance  to  remedy  the 
production  of  the  poppy,  Turkey,  one  of  the  chief  producers, 
dechned  even  to  be  represented  at  the  Conference,  and  the 
attitude  of  other  powers  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  futility  of  the 
suggestion.  But  even  assuming,  for  purposes  of  argument, 
that  the  total  abolition  of  opium  cultivation  were  possible, 
there  remains  the  third  aspect  of  the  problem,  i.e.,  once 
opium  smoking  has  been  eradicated,  by  what  means  would 
it  be  possible  to  prevent  a  rapid  increase  of  the  more  danger- 
ous morphia  habit  and  the  adoption  of  alcohol  as  a  form  of 
stimulant  by  the  Chinese  people?  Personally,  I  consider 
that  all  the  evidence  goes  to  show  that  a  predisposition  to 
opium  in  one  form  or  another  is  indicated  by  the  physical 
and  nervous  constitution  of  the  Chinese  as  a  race,  and  I 
am  not  therefore  inclined  to  attach  great  importance  to  the 
opinions  of  those  who,  like  Sir  Frank  Swettenham,  think  that 
alcohol  is  likely  to  take  the  place  of  opium  wherever  opium 
is  unobtainable.  But  the  dangers  arising  from  morphine  as 
a  substitute  for  opium  are  sufficiently  real  and  immediate 
to  have  engaged  the  serious  attention  of  philanthropists 
and  medical  missionaries  in  China  and  abroad.  They 
formed  the  subject  of  special  resolutions  at  The  Hague  Con- 
ference and  a  vast  amount  of  interesting  information  was 


236  J-    O.    p.    BLAND 

submitted  and  recorded  on  the  subject.  Without  going 
into  details  it  may  be  said  that,  since  the  morphia  duty  was 
increased  in  China  after  1906,  the  smuggling  of  this  dangerous 
drug  has  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  doctors  all  over 
China  now  testify  that  many  opium-smokers  have  taken  to 
morphia,  making  the  last  state  worse  than  the  first.  China 
proposed  to  regulate  the  morphine  trade  by  the  inauguration 
of  pharmacy  laws  applicable  throughout  the  Empire  under 
official  supervision,  but  I  need  hardly  say  that  for  many 
years  to  come,  this  proposal,  like  that  of  the  abolition  of 
opium  cultivation,  must  remain  an  unattainable  ideal.  No 
such  laws  could  possibly  be  framed  or  enforced  under  existing 
conditions. 

To  sum  up :  The  futility  of  legislation  and  of  philanthropic 
attempts  to  attain  the  complete  abolition  of  opium  cultiva- 
tion and  opium  smoking  in  China  must  be  obvious  to  every 
unbiased  observer  of  the  facts.  Nevertheless,  I  hold  that  if, 
instead  of  discussing  unpractical  schemes,  the  activities  of 
philanthropists  and  missionaries  could  henceforth  be  directed 
towards  the  introduction  of  practical  restrictive  legislation 
and  regulation  of  the  opium  traffic,  much  good  might  be  done 
in  China,  just  as  in  Great  Britain  education,  philanthropy 
and  the  moral  effect  of  the  temperance  movement  have 
greatly  reduced  the  national  tendency  to  drunkenness 
within  the  last  half  century.  There  undoubtedly  exists  in 
China  a  strong  force  of  public  opinion  directed  against  the 
excessive  use  of  opium. 

By  practical  legislation,  such  as  that  which  in  Scandinavia 
has  been  adopted  with  such  excellent  results  under  the 
Gothenburg  system,  and  by  means  of  the  education  of  public 
opinion,  progress  can  and  will  no  doubt  be  made.  But  there 
can  be  no  permanently  beneficial  results  from  impulsive 
and  Quixotic  attempts  to  secure  the  root  and  branch  elimi- 
nation of  a  firmly  established  national  propensity. 


AMERICA'S  BUSINESS  OPPORTUNITY  IN  CHINA 
By  B.  Ativood  Robinson 

The  history  of  trade  development  is  the  history  of  the  world. 
Trade  has  followed  the  flag  wherever  it  has  gone  and  all 
too  often  it  has  been  the  armies  of  the  world  that  have 
carried  forward  the  torch  of  civilization  and  the  banner  of 
commerce.  Enlightened  and  honorable  trade  relations  may 
prove  as  great  an  influence  for  good  as  the  work  of  the  mis- 
sionary or  educator.  From  the  early  dawn  of  recorded  his- 
tory up  to  the  present  time  trade  has  gone  hand  in  hand  with 
the  advance  of  civilization.  Beginning  in  Egypt,  Baby- 
lonia, and  Assyria,  it  traveled  to  Carthage,  Greece  and 
Rome.  It  followed  the  victorious  armies  of  the  South  in 
their  conquest  of  the  barbarians  of  northern  Europe,  and  the 
great  commercial  countries  of  Europe  are  the  result.  With 
Columbus  it  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  the  United  States 
and  all  the  other  great  countries  of  North  and  South  America 
with  their  teeming  trade  have  grown  and  flourished. 

And  now  we  are  face  to  face  with  the  last  of  the  world's 
commercial  conquests  in  the  development  of  great  and  endur- 
ing trade  relations  with  the  other  half  of  the  world's  popula- 
tion in  the  countries  forming  the  western  boundary  of  the 
great  Pacific  basin. 

The  history  of  trade  between  America  and  China  has  often 
been  written  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak  in  detail  of  it 
here.  From  the  time  when  the  American  ship  Empress  of 
China  arrived  at  Canton  from  New  York  in  1784  to  the 
present  time,  be  it  said  to  our  credit,  these  relations  have 
been  generally  satisfactory  to  both  parties,  in  contra-dis- 
tinction  to  those  of  China  with  some  other  countries. 

"Americans  are  the  only  people  who  have  treated  us 
according  to  the  Golden  Rule  and  we  want  to  do  business 
with  them."  These  words  were  spoken  to  the  writer  by  the 
late  Viceroy  Yang  Hsi  Hsiang,  at  Tientsin  in  1908. 

237 


238  B.    ATVVOOD    ROBINSON 

These  words  fornie(]  pnrt  of  the  admirable  address  of 
Jiid^e  Kiingpah  T.  King  of  the  Supreme  C'ourt  of  Justice, 
IVkiue;.  at  a  tliiincr  in  his  honor  in  Boston  in  1910. 

Wliilo  your  complete  war  equipment  and  unexcelled  facilities 
for  preparing  great  engines  of  war  are  very  wonderful,  I  must  say 
that  I  am  most  favorably  impressed  with  your  great  commercial 
supremacy,  your  tremendous  natural  resources  and  your  great 
factories  which  stand  as  monuments  to  your  national  industry. 
The  development  of  commercial  interests  between  America  and 
China  would  be  mutually  beneficial. 

America  is  the  natural  source  of  supply  in  many  lines,  and  proper 
attention  to  the  development  of  commercial  relations  will  surely 
bring  about  a  great  increase  in  trade,  to  the  mutual  advantage  of 
both  countries. 

These  quotations  may  be  said  to  be  fairly  representative 
of  the  sentiment  of  the  leading  men  of  China  on  this  subject. 

In  view  of  all  our  past  relations  with  the  Chinese,  America 
may  justly  claim  the  title  of  ''China's  best  friend."  Ameri- 
can business  men  have  been  strangely  indifferent  to  the  un- 
parallelled  opportunity  presented  through  the  gateway  of 
the  great  Far  East.  America  is  the  one  country  from  which 
China  does  not  fear  armed  invasion,  but  cordially  welcomes 
invasion  of  trade  and  commerce.  With  this  record  of  fair 
dealing  to  our  credit,  it  would  seem  the  height  of  folly  to 
neglect  the  great  opportunity  that  confronts  us  for  advanta- 
geous occupancy  of  the  field.  America,  by  virtue  of  her 
extensive  Pacific  Coast  line  is  nearest  neighbor  to  the  Far 
East,  while  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  afford 
the  manufacturers  of  the  eastern  states  the  opportunity 
of  reaching  that  part  of  the  world  with  their  products  on  a 
very  favorable  basis. 

In  considering  trade  opportunities  with  a  country,  many 
factors  must  be  taken  into  account.  It  is  as  easy  to  over 
as  to  underestimate  the  extent  of  these  opportunities. 
Meagerness  of  information  is  responsible  for  false  concep- 
tions of  conditions.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  strange  that  ignor- 
ance of  true  conditions  is  so  prevalent,  in  view  of  the  vast 
amount  if  misinformation  and  misrepresentation  that  has 
been  spread  broadcast  by  ill-informed,  narrow-minded,  in- 


America's  opportunity  in  china  239 

competent  or  prejudiced  observers.  It  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  China  has  been,  and  is  still,  exploited  by  design- 
ing men  of  many  lands. 

First  of  all  a  careful  study  of  the  country,  its  resources, 
its  people  and  their  requirements  must  be  made.  China 
is  a  country  so  rich  in  natural  resources  that  with  the  open- 
ing up  of  railway  and  other  modern  means  of  communica- 
tion, the  development  of  these  resources  will  greatly  increase 
the  purchasing  power  of  the  people  by  opening  up  to  their 
products  the  markets  of  the  world.  No  one  who  has  traveled 
at  all  extensively  in  China  can  have  failed  to  be  impressed 
with  the  tremendous  possibilities  of  development  there. 

The  population  of  the  various  provinces,  according  to  the 
last  estimates  by  the  imperial  maritime  customs  is  as  follows: 

Anhwei 36,000,000 

Chihli 29,400,000 

Chekiang 11,800,000 

Fukien 20,000,000 

Hunan 22,000,000 

Hupeh 34,000,000 

Kiangsi 24,534,000 

Kiangsu 23,980,000 

Kwangtung 32,000,000 

Kwangsi 8,000,000 

Manchuria 17,000,000 

Shantung 38,000,000 

Szechwan 78,711,000 

Yunnan 8,000,000 

Other  provinces 55,000,000 

Total 438,425,000 

Many  have  considered  the  country  overcrowded,  but  it 
is  doubtful  if  such  is  the  case.  Indeed,  Dr.  Ernst  Fabor 
has  predicted  that  this  population  will  ultimately  be  doubled, 
without  reaching  the  danger  line  of  supply  and  demand. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  it  requires  not  the  wisdom  of  a  Solomon 
to  realize  something  of  the  vastness  of  the  opportunity 
presented  by  this  great  multitude  of  people,  now  fully  awake 
after  centuries  of  somnolence,  to  a  realization  of  their  needs 
and  a  great  longing  for  western  culture  and  mode  of  living, 
with  all  of  the  best  that  goes  with  it. 


240  B.    ATW^OOD   ROBINSON 

We  hoar  much  of  the  slowness  of  tlie  Chinese,  but  in  view 
of  the  startling  rapidity  of  development  during  the  past 
two  years,  who  will  be  so  rash  as  to  say  that  trade  develop- 
ment will  be  slow?  Less  than  eighteen  months  ago  Mr.  C. 
D.  Jameson,  than  whom  few  have  had  better  opportunities 
of  studying  actual  conditions  from  the  inside,  in  an  article 
published  in  the  Outlook,  on  "The  Future  of  China,"  com- 
menced as  follows:  "To  make  clear  the  utter  hopelessness 
of  renaissance  in  the  Chinese  as  a  nation  until  several  gener- 
ations have  passed,  I  must  give  a  sUght  sketch  of  Chinese 
history."  And,  lo,  the  unexpected  has  happened,  the  oldest 
monarchy  of  the  world  has  crumbled  to  dust  and  a  republic 
has  been  firmly  established,  while  the  whole  world  looked  on 
amazed. 

Now  some  would-be  prophets  are  predicting  slow  com- 
mercial development.  In  the  hght  of  former  mistakes, 
these  prophecies  seem  rather  presumptuous.  The  natural 
resources  of  a  country  have  a  most  important  bearing  on 
its  commercial  activity.  These  resources  of  China  are 
almost  wholly  undeveloped.  Her  vast  mineral  deposits  have 
scarcely  been  touched.  A  single  province  is  estimated  to 
have  a  world's  supply  of  coal  for  a  thousand  years  and  coal 
exists  in  at  least  fifteen  provinces.  The  present  annual 
output  of  the  mines  is  upwards  of  10,000,000  tons.  There 
is  a  great  abundance  of  iron,  and  the  manufacture  of  steel 
and  iron  products  has  already  assumed  quite  large  propor- 
tions. Pig  iron  is  now  being  shipped  to  the  United  States 
in  considerable  quantity.  The  precious  metals  are  being 
produced  in  e\'er-increasing  quantities,  adding  greatly  to  the 
purchasing  power  of  the  country. 

The  agricultural  productiveness  is  large  and  if  proposed 
plans  for  a  comprehensive  system  of  protective  dikes  is  car- 
ried out,  will  be  greatly  increased. 

A  trade  that  is  largely  one-sided  is  not  likely  to  assume 
large  proportions,  and  nations  wishing  to  transact  a  large 
business  with  each  other  must  each  be  prepared  to  give  and 
take.  As  we  increase  our  purchases  of  China's  products,  so 
will  she  buy  more  largely  from  us.  In  this  connection  it  is 
well  to  point  out  the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  ship- 


AMERICA  S   OPPORTUNITY   IN   CHINA 


241 


ments  to  this  country  from  China  are  made  through  foreign 
firms  and  nearly  all  come  in  foreign  ships.  This  is  very 
detrimental  to  American  prestige.  In  view  of  the  approach- 
ing opening  of  the  Panama  Canal,  it  behooves  Americans 
to  awake  to  the  importance  of  rehabilitating  our  merchant 
marine,  not  simply  for  the  profit  arising  from  the  carrying 
trade,  but  as  a  means  of  building  up  our  foreign  commerce, 
especially  in  the  Far  East. 

In  this  connection  the  following  table  giving  the  nation- 
ality and  tonnage  of  the  various  steamers  entered  and  cleared 
at  Shanghai  in  1910  and  1911  will  prove  illuminating,  ii 
not  pleasing: 


1910 

1811 

Number 

Tone 

Number 

Tona 

American 

135 

48 

3,899 

66 

31 

628 

779 

3,962 

244 

142 

22 

5,352 

475,628 

190,120 

7,097,783 

81,669 

72,998 

1,207,959 

1,621,977 

3,453,652 

237,151 

277,988 

50,924 

2,910707 

107 

48 

4,112 

80 

47 

338 

694 

3,853 

307 

148 

14 

5,056 

454,467 

192,824 

7,311,167 

Austrian 

British 

Danish 

103,096 

Dutch 

113,608 

747,229 

1,600,051 

3,986,523 

French 

German 

Japanese 

Norwegian 

295,551 

266,950 

34,752 

Russian 

Swedish 

Chinese 

3,073,254 

Total 

15,308 

17,678,556 

14,804 

18,179,472 

Again,  taking  the  statistics  of  the  great  interior  port  of 
Hankow,  the  number  of  steamers  entering  the  port  in  1911 
was  1833,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  2,220,402  tons. 
British  ships  led  with  959,284  tons,  with  Japan  second  with 
670,873  tons.  German,  French,  Russian,  Danish,  American 
and  Norwegian  shipping  followed  in  the  order  named. 
America's  total  was  7376  tons! 

Those  of  us  who  have  had  the  opportunity  of  studying  the 
situation  in  European  countries  are  only  too  well  aware  of 
the  great  preparations  that  are  being  made  and  the  exten- 
sive work  now  in  progress  to  secure  for  them  commercial 


242  B.  ArvvooD  robinson 

supremacy  in  China.  Which  of  the  great  countries  of 
tho  world  sliall  most  hirgely  profit  by  the  increasing  foreign 
trade  of  China  will  depend  largely  upon  the  relative  activity, 
intelligence  and  perseverance  of  the  manufacturers,  exporters 
and  business  organizations  of  these  countries  at  the  present 
time  and  in  the  immediate  future.  What  shall  be  the 
part  of  the  American  business  man  in  this  development? 
What,  indeed,  shall  be  the  part  of  the  great  American  nation 
therein?  We  hear  much  these  days,  often  in  derision,  of 
"dollar  diplomacy."  We  are  really  only  children  learning 
the  a,b,c's  of  the  game.  For  real  "dollar  diplomacy" 
let  us  look  to  Germany,  the  country  which  by  intelligent 
study  of  conditions,  the  careful  training  of  men,  and  the 
lavish  expenditure  of  money  has  built  up  a  great  foreign  com- 
merce that  is  bringing  to  her  wealth  and  a  great  world  influ- 
ence. Under  the  auspices  of  the  German  government  large 
numbers  of  young  men  are  taught  the  languages  of  foreign 
countries  to  which  they  are  subsequently  sent  as  missionaries 
of  commerce.  The  recent  acti\'ity  of  our  government 
through  its  consular  and  diplomatic  agents  in  cooperating 
with  commercial  organizations  in  developing  and  extending 
our  trade  with  foreign  countries  is  greatly  to  be  commended. 
In  considering  trade  relations  with  the  Chinese  it  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  they  recognize  as  their  ideal  the  high- 
est standard  of  business  honor.  It  is  probable  that  of  no 
other  people  is  this  so  true,  and  it  should  prove  a  strong  incen- 
tive to  the  extension  of  our  commercial  relations  with  them. 
To  quote  again  from  Mr.  Jameson: 

No  people  are  commercially  more  honest  or  have  a  more  exalted 
idea  of  the  sacredness  of  a  contract — either  written,  verbal,  or 
merely  implied — than  the  Chinese  merchant,  banker  or  contractor 
of  any  kind,  unless  contaminated  by  dealings  with  unreliable 
foreign  hongs  at  the  open  ports.  The  non-official  word  of  a  Chinese 
is  usually  as  good  as  his  bond,  and  his  bond  is  as  good  as  the  wealth 
of  his  family.  In  fifteen  years  of  dealing  with  Chinese  merchants 
and  contractors  of  all  sorts  I  have  never  found  them  maliciously 
doing  work  contrary  to  the  specifications  or  attempting  to  break 
their  contract  even  if  it  was  a  losing  one  for  them. 

During  the  past  year,  as  was  to  be  expected,  there  was  a 
considerable  decrease  in  the  volume  of  foreign  trade  in  cen- 


AMERICA  S   OPPORTUNITY   IN   CHINA 


243 


tral  and  southern  China,  the  districts  most  seriously  affected 
by  the  revolutionary  movement.  Recent  reports,  however, 
indicate  a  present  practically  normal  resumption  of  ship- 
ments. While  in  the  Manchurian,  ChihHan  and  Shantung 
ports  there  was  a  considerable  increase  in  the  volume  of 
foreign  trade,  in  the  Yangtse  ports,  where  the  most  se\^ere 
fighting  occurred,  there  was  a  great  decrease  in  business. 
In  the  seventeen  southern  ports  tributary  to  Hongkong, 
the  comparative  figures  of  1910  and  1911  were  as  follows: 


Net  foreign  commerce i 

Net  native  imports < 

Exports  abroad  and  to  native  ports \ 


$97,647,378 
84,439,949 

39,173,035 
33,199,810 

83,015,314 
80,424,000 


The  chief  loss  during  the  period  accordingly  came  in  im- 
ports of  foreign  goods  and  to  a  considerable  extent  repre- 
sented cancellation  of  foreign  orders.  The  more  serious 
loss  in  exports  later,  came  in  January  and  February  1912. 

In  view  of  the  recent  disturbed  condition  of  the  country 
trade  statistics  do  not  possess  the  face  value  that  they  other- 
wise would,  and  need  careful  analysis  in  order  that  their 
true  significence  may  be  understood.  In  many  lines,  such 
for  example  as  piece-goods,  American  drill,  flannels,  jeans, 
sheetings,  shirtings,  etc.,  the  markets  became  seriously  con- 
gested because  of  the  stoppage  of  orders  as  a  result  of  the 
revolutionary  disturbances,  but  the  finely  organized  cooper- 
ative trade  guilds  made  it  possible  to  carry  these  enormous 
stocks  without  serious  resultant  financial  disturbance,  and 
there  is  now  renewed  activity  all  along  the  line.  The  accu- 
mulated stocks  having  been  finally  disposed  of  there  is  every 
prospect  of  a  resumption  of  trade  in  large  volume.  Recent 
reports  indicate  a  rapid  change  in  the  attire  of  the  ( 'iiiuose 
and  the  adoption  of  western  styles.  So  marked  is  this 
movement  that  it  is  reported  that  sewing  machines  cannot 


244 


B.    ATVVOOD    ROBINSON 


be  imported  r.apidly  enough  to  satisfy  the  demand.  There 
is  also  a  lively  demand  for  fabrics  of  various  kinds,  parti- 
cularly the  che^iper  qualities  of  woollen  and  cotton  goods. 

Organization  and  cooperation  are  necessary  factors  in  the 
successful  introduction  of  American  goods.  As  an  example 
of  the  efhcicnt  and  effective  organization  for  trade  in  China 
we  may  cite  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  with  its  constantly 
expanding  trade,  especially  in  the  interior  districts.  A 
system  of  cooperation  that  would  build  up  a  similar  organi- 
zation to  handle  American  cotton  goods  and  other  sundries 
would  go  far  toward  solving  the  problems  of  American 
export  trade. 

A  comparison  of  the  exports  of  cotton  piece  goods  for  the 
past  four  years  from  the  United  Kingdom  and  the  United 
States  to  China  and  Hongkong  follows.  The  British  figures 
are  for  calendar  years,  while  the  American  are  for  fiscal 
years  ended  June  30: 


1909 

1910 

1911 

1912 

United  Kingdom : 
Yards 

572,443,000 
$35,593,313 

121,562,469 

471,334,200 
$35,383,266 

93.397.596 

647,449,700 
$48,027,011 

78,585,021 
$5,183,900 

527,636,800 

Value 

$39,445,896 

United  States: 
Yards 

101,260,519 

Value 

$7,057,2241      S5. 696.010 

$7,192,344 

1         ' 

With  the  starting  of  factories  there  is  also  a  great  demand 
for  machinery  of  all  kinds.  With  this  in  view  what  should 
be  the  attitude  of  the  Ajnerican  manufacturer  and  exporter 
in  the  matter?  How  shall  he  proceed  to  take  advantage  of 
the  situation  and  develop  an  export  trade  with  China? 

Comparative  statements  of  the  years  1910  and  1911  of 
the  import  and  export  trade  of  leading  trade  centres  have 
recently  been  received  through  consular  channels.  These 
are  too  elaborate  for  incorporation  in  full  in  a  paper  of  this 
scope,  but  some  excerpts  from  them  may  prove  interesting 
and  enlightening. 

Shanghai  is,  of  course,  far  ahead  of  other  ports  in  the 
matter  of  imports  and  exports.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
notwithstanding  the  serious  effect  of  the  revolution  on  trade 


AMERICA  S   OPPORTUNITY  IN   CHINA 


245 


during  the  latter  part  of  1911,  the  gross  value  of  the  merchan- 
dise arriving  and  departing,  according  to  the  report  of  the 
national  maritime  customs,  amounted  to  $314,731,444,  an 
increase  of  $3,824,174  over  1910,  and  constituting  a  record. 
\-  j  The  following  table  gives  the  gross  and  net  trade  of  Shang- 
hai in  1910  and  1911: 


1910 


1911 


Opium,  cwt 

Cotton  manufactures: 

Piece  goods,  pieces 

Towels,  dozen 

Yarns  and  waste,  cwt 

Nankeens,  cwt 

Woolen  and  cotton  mixtures,  yards. 

Antimony  and  ore,  cwt 

Pig  iron,  cwt 

Arms  and  munitions  of  war,  value 

Bags,  gunny,  pieces 

Bean  cake,  cwt 

Beans,  cwt 

Bran,  cwt 

Cotton,  raw  and  waste,  cwt 

Curios,  value 

Eggs: 

Albumen  and  yolk,  cwt 

Fresh,  pieces 

Preserved,  pieces 

Salted,  pieces 

Fiber,  ramie,  cwt 

Flour,  cwt 

Groundnut  cake  and  pulp,  cwt 

Groundnuts,  cwt 

Human  hair,  ctw 

Hats,  number 

Medicines,  value 

Oils 

Bean,  cwt 

Cottonseed,  cwt 

Groundnut,  cwt 

Rape,  cwt 

Sesamum,  cwt 

Tea,  cwt 

Wood,  cwt 

Pearls,  real,  value 

Rice,  cwt 


7,006 

345,268 
34,696 
10,124 

113,505 
44,705 

117,083 

386,976 

1,540,518 
1,146,441 
2,152,374 
455,412 
1,738,208 
$290,381 

138,524 

117,833,678 

8,396,208 

704,350 

266,490 

1,669,017 

471,591 

190,077 

16,524 

4,343,581 

$1,351,647 

154,996 
69,876 

361,008 
18,130 
4,950 
14,761 

540,340 

$4,361 

2,136,285 


2,120 

743,847 

8,468 

518,451 

113,030 

31,918 

130,317 

460,765 

$222,301 

2,954,295 

1,711,469 

2,106,737 

474,141 

1,108,138 

$351,256 

136,882 

88,365,977 

7,531,415 

773,580 

223,026 

955,270 

470,054 

271,240 

10,270 

5,028,375 

$1,268,202 

214,088 

44,312 

380,253 

16,345 

7,122 

19,048 

460,534 

$42,959 

3,624,490 


246 


B.    ATWOOD   ROBINSON 


1910 


1011 


Seed: 

Cotton,  cwt 

Scaamum,  cwt 

Seedcake,  cwt 

Shoes  and  boots,  silk  and  cotton,  pairs.. 
Silk: 

Raw,  spun,  cocoons,  waste,  etc.,  cwt.. 

Piece  goods,  cwt 

Pongees,  cwt 

Skins: 

Goat,  pieces 

Lamb,  pieces 

Sheep,  pieces 

Weasel,  pieces 

Straw  braid,  cwt 

Sugar,  cwt 

Tea,  cwt 

Tobacco,  leaf  and  prepared,  cwt 

Varnish,  cwt 

Wheat,  cwt 

Wool,  sheeps,  cwt 


283,070 
2,846,996 
1,550.360 

158,942 

282,844 
18,707 
14,472 

8,894,333 
707,136 
320,671 
881,133 
101,408 
293,187 
628,162 
216,500 
20,047 
74,894 
242,501 


217,980 
2,078,476 
1,424,332 

196,094 

285,606 
17,702 
11,958 

7,699,309 

441,173 

235,697 

706,874 

83,114 

337,690 

636,780 

162,968 

20,465 

38,308 

395,282 


The  exports  from  Shanghai  to  the  United  States  decreased 
from  $14,669,206  in  1910  to  $12,878,281  in  1911. 

The  following  table  gives  the  value  of  the  principal  articles 
thus  exported: 


IBIO 


1911 


Albumen 

Antimony 

Books,  Chinese 

Brass  ware 

Bristles 

Camphor 

Chairs,  rattan 

Chinaware 

Coal 

Coke 

Cotton,  raw 

Cottonseed  cake 

Curios 

Eggs  and  egg  yolk . 

Feathers 

Fibers,  China  grass 
Furs,  dressed 


143,493 

$226,061 

3,473 

1,699 

2,520 

1,233 

1,086 

34,016 

49,014 

47,317 

2,271 

4,172 

27,589 

9,773 

12,368 

20,710 

513,633 

298,290 

2,324 

5,322 

14,523 

2,096 

4,205 

13,713 

31,041 

5,781 

12,793 

50,599 

15,468 

AMERICA  S   OPPORTUNITY   IN   CHINA 


247 


1910 


1911 


Hair: 

Animal 

Human 

Hats: 

Raffia 

Rush 

Straw 

Wood-shaving 

Hides,  cow  and  calf 

Hog  products 

Household  and  personal  efifects 

Iron,  pig 

Jade 

Musk 

Nuts: 

Gall 

Ground 

Pea 

Walnuts 

Oils: 

Bean 

Cottonseed 

Rapeseed 

Vegetable 

Wood 

Ramie , 

Rhubarb 

Silk: 

Cocoons,  pierced 

Piece  goods 

Pongees 

Silk: 

Raw 

Tussah 

Waste 

Wild 

Manufactures,  n.e.s 

Skins : 

Dog  mats 

Dog  robes 

Goat 

Lamb 

Leopard 

Sheep 

Tiger 

Weasel 

Other 


1,086 
46,621 


21,685 

2,251 

809 

288,018 

10,454 
91,788 

55,516 

7,381 
43,194 

16,762 

110,258 

144,558 

5,247 

17,108 

16,978 

6,764 

20,713 

9,052 

457 

63,966 

6,897,922 

157,810 

548,741 

1,127 

42,292 
36,894 
1,633,133 
56,987 
13,637 

10,627 

131.811 

36,751 


27,500 

554 
25,080 
26,288 
39,303 
65,660 
2,327 
23,370 
26,471 
20,789 
223,021 

22,192 
3,360 
5,355 

91,072 

127,174 

169,778 

11,433 

39,488 

14,246 


2,038 
11,458 

6,970,067 

14,764 

118,431 

373,774 

1,260 

71,731 

7,S37 

1,021,187 

42,599 

()(;3 

43,222 

18,811 
2,157 


248 


B.    ATVVOOD   ROBINSON 


ASnOLM 

1910 

1911 

Straw  braid 

611,575 

10,067 

2,144,881 

491,743 

151,754 

431,225 

Tallow  

51 

Toa                       

1,352,033 

Wool 

751,560 

All  other  articles 

42,346 

Total 

$14,669,206 

812,878,281 

^^^lile  the  foreign  trade  of  Hankow,  passing  through  the 
maritime  customs,  makes  this  port  the  second  in  China, 
in  direct  foreign  trade  it  stands  sixth,  although  this  classifi- 
cation is  misleading  owing  to  the  fact  that  of  goods  shipped 
to  Chinese  ports  a  large  share  represent  shipments  for  foreign 
countries. 

The  reports  from  Manchuria  and  ports  of  Tientsin,  Can- 
ton, etc.,  are  quite  similar  to  those  of  Shanghai,  and  taken  as 
a  whole  form  a  mighty  argument  for  increased  activity  on 
the  part  of  American  firms. 

It  may  be  well  to  briefly  point  out  some  of  the  causes  of 
failure  on  our  part  to  fully  realize  our  expectations  in  the 
volume  of  business  done,  and  to  suggest  some  improvements 
in  methods.  Ignorance  and  apathy  go  hand  in  hand  as 
twin  causes  of  failure  to  control  our  rightful  share  of  China's 
foreign  trade,  import  and  export.  A  systematic  study  of 
present  conditions  and  the  adoption  of  methods  suitable  to 
meet  these  conditions  is  a  prerequisite  to  success. 

Ignorance  of  correct  methods  and  of  the  fact  that  business 
may  be  successfully  conducted  without  prohibitive  expense 
or  great  risk,  prevents  many  from  entering  what  would  prove 
a  very  profitable  field,  while  the  fallacy  of  the  sufficiency  of 
the  home  market  for  present  and  future  absorption  of  pro- 
ducts bUnds  many  to  the  great  opportunity  awaiting  them. 

Consular  reports  are  of  value  in  furnishing  statistics  and 
general  information  regarding  local  conditions,  but  the  ap- 
pointment of  special  government  conmiercial  agents  compe- 
tent to  study  and  report  the  situation  in  all  its  bearings  and 
to  make  recommendations  of  real  value  to  the  manufac- 
turers of  the  country,  would  be  a  most  important  and  help- 
ful move  in  the  right  direction.     The  great  commercial 


AMERICA  S   OPPORTUNITY  IN   CHINA  249 

organizations  of  the  country,  its  chambers  of  commerce, 
boards  of  trade,  etc.,  should  unite  in  the  effort  to  procure 
for  the  business  men  of  the  country  up-to-date  information 
along  these  lines.  Conditions  in  China  have  undergone  a 
rapid  and  radical  change  and  new  conditions  call  for  new 
methods,  and  the  crying  need  of  today  is  for  a  comprehen- 
sive study  of  the  situation  and  the  application  of  methods 
suitable  to  present  conditions.  Another  important  and  ad- 
vantageous move  would  be  the  estabhshment  of  an  American 
chamber  of  commerce  in  one  or  more  of  the  leading  ports  of 
China.  This  should  be  done  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
thus  insuring  the  absence  of  any  sectional  or  personal  favori- 
tism and  guaranteeing  fair  and  equitable  treatment  to  all. 
Membership  in  these  should  be  open  to  all  reputable  Ameri- 
can business  men  on  lines  similar  to  those  obtaining  in  the 
American  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Paris. 

Perhaps  in  no  other  country  has  the  development  of  trade 
organizations  or  guilds  been  brought  to  so  high  a  point  as  in 
China.  In  all  the  leading  ports  her  chambers  of  commerce 
are  serious,  helpful  bodies.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
during  the  serious  financial  depression  accompanying  and 
following  the  boom  and  collapse  in  rubber  securities  and  the 
failures  of  banks,  the  provincial  authorities  with  the  aid  of 
the  local  chamber  of  commerce  succeeded  in  relieving  the 
situation.  This  indicates  a  spirit  of  cooperation  highly  com- 
mendatory and  which  we  may  profitably  emulate  in  our 
efforts  to  secure  our  share  of  the  trade  of  the  country. 

It  must  be  recognized  that  there  exist  today  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  the  establishment  of  extensive  trade  relations  with 
China  that  are  not  so  marked  in  our  commerce  with  other 
countries. 

Probably  the  most  important  factor  in  Chinese  foreign 
trade  is  the  fluctuating  exchange  value  of  silver  with  gold, 
with  its  consequent  bearing  on  the  exports  and  imports  of 
the  country.  A  perusal  of  such  statistics  as  are  available 
clearly  indicates  that  the  import  trade  of  China  increases  in 
ratio  to  the  increase  in  the  exchange  value  of  silver  and 
decreases  in  ratio  to  their  decreased  value.     Without  ven- 


250  B.   ATWOOD   ROBINSON 

tiiriiig  a  positive  prediction,  it  may  safely  be  said  that  it  is 
the  goneral  opinion  of  trade  authorities  of  the  world  that  the 
present  high  value  of  their  coinage  is  but  the  beginning  of  an 
extended  period  of  high  exchange  which  cannot  fail  of  a 
stimulating  effect  on  her  import  trade. 

Many  factors  enter  into  the  exchange  situation  in  China  in 
its  relation  to  imports  and  exports,  but  it  is  not  the  province 
of  this  paper  to  speak  of  them  in  detail.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  the  question  of  a  suitable  currency  system  that  shall 
bear  such  relation  to  the  systems  of  the  great  commercial 
countries  of  the  world  as  to  insure  something  approaching 
stability  and  dependability  in  rates  of  exchange  is  being 
deeply  studied  by  Chinese  authorities  in  such  matters, 
assisted  by  foreign  advisers  of  recognized  abiUty,  and  while 
it  may  be  too  much  to  hope  for  the  speedy  bringing  of  order 
out  of  chaos,  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  a  continual  advance 
in  the  direction  of  ideal  conditions. 

A  strong  effort  is  being  made  to  estabhsh  a  uniform  system 
of  keeping  and  auditing  pubUc  accounts,  which  is  sure  to 
have  a  good  effect  in  reorganizing,  systematizing  and  bring- 
ing into  being  a  uniform  system  of  taxation,  which  is  an 
essential  to  the  upbuilding  of  a  great  interprovincial  and 
international  trade.  One  of  the  chief  obstacles  to  trade 
extension  in  China  is  the  almost  absolute  lack  of  anything 
resembling  system  in  the  assessment  of  taxes  and  liken  or 
customs  duties.  In  many  instances  goods  in  transit  are 
subjected  to  repeated  assessment  en  route  from  province 
to  province  and  sometimes  from  town  to  town,  in  order  to 
furnish  "squeeze"  for  the  officials.  This,  of  course,  greatly 
hampers  and  limits  the  extension  of  trade,  and  while  it  is 
too  much  to  expect  that  this  will  immediately  be  done  away 
with,  I  am  in  receipt  of  recent  personal  communications  from 
high  authorities  giving  assurance  that  as  a  result  of  study 
of  the  situation  now  being  made  by  native  and  foreign 
experts,  a  change  for  the  better  is  confidently  looked  for  in 
the  near  future.  I  dwell  thus  at  length  on  this  point  because 
of  its  important  bearing  on  the  foreign  trade  of  the  country. 
The  fact  that  such  abuses  exist  should  not  act  as  a  deterrent 
to  active  effort  for  trade  increases,  for  it  is  practically  cer- 


AMERICA  S   OPPORTUNITY   IN   CHINA  251 

tain  that  under  the  new  form  of  government,  and  as  a  result 
of  the  investigations  now  in  progress,  existing  conditions 
will  eventually  give  way  to  modern  and  equitable  methods 
of  taxation. 

A  demand  for  our  goods  must  be  created  and  this  cannot 
be  done  without  the  expenditure  of  money,  but  a  small 
percentage  of  the  amount  expended  by  the  average  American 
manufacturer  in  securing  an  outlet  for  his  products  in  the 
home  market  would,  if  wisely  applied,  secure  for  him  a  foot- 
hold in  the  Chinese  market  that  would  have  a  future  value 
far  greater  than  would  result  from  the  expenditure  of  the 
same  amount  at  home.  If  ever  American  exporters  and  man- 
ufacturers were  justified  in  estabhshing  the  agencies  which 
are  the  primary  requirement  of  trade  in  China,  it  is  at  the 
present  time. 

For  many  reasons  the  ideal  method  is  the  maintenance 
abroad  of  one's  own  office  and  sales  force,  but  excepting  in 
the  case  of  a  few  of  the  largest  concerns,  this  involves  pro- 
hibitive expense.  Another  method  that  is  much  more 
extensively  employed,  and  with  good  results,  is  the  sending 
of  salesmen  direct  from  headquarters.  This  method  may 
be  employed  where  there  is  a  sufficiently  large  market  for 
the  goods  offered,  but  the  only  practicable  method  for  the 
average  manufacturer  is  to  place  his  goods  before  the  pros- 
pective customers  through  the  medium  of  some  one  of  the 
large  importing  houses  of  the  country. 

And  right  here  is  where  many  of  our  American  concerns 
make  the  initial  mistake  that  eventually  costs  them  dearly 
and  not  infrequently  discourages  them  and  causes  them  to 
relinquish  the  field.  The  mistake  referred  to  is  the  placing 
of  agencies  with  foreign  individuals  or  firms.  The  usual 
European  custom  so  familiar  to  American  travelers  in  Europe 
of  decrying  everything  American,  prevails  to  an  even  greater 
extent  amongst  the  foreign  houses  in  (^hina.  They  have  no 
good  word  for  Americans  or  their  products,  and  it  is  a  rare 
exception  where  an  American  is  employed  by  any  of  these 
concerns.  It  is  a  humiliating  spectacle  to  the  American 
business  man  traveling  in  China  to  find  the  great  majority  of 
American  concerns  represented  by  foreigners.     These  for- 


252  B.    ATWOOD   ROBINSON 

eigners  are,  if  possible,  more  patriotic  in  China  than  at  home, 
and  it  is  too  frequently  the  case  the  American  agencies 
se<nired  by  them  are  used  to  advance  the  sale  of  competing 
lines  from  their  own  countries.  Instances  are  not  lacking 
where  samples  of  American  goods  have  been  sent  by  these 
agents,  with  prices  and  full  particulars,  to  their  home  coun- 
tries to  be  reproduced  there  and  introduced  into  China  at 
the  expense  of  the  American  manufacturer.  Nor  is  this  the 
only  unfortunate  feature  of  the  practice.  It  is  distinctly 
detrimental  to  American  prestige  in  China.  In  a  country 
where  the  American  flag  is  almost  never  seen  on  the  ships  of 
commerce  and  where  American  manufacturers  are  so  largely 
represented  by  foreign  concerns,  it  is  not  difficult  to  under- 
stand why  our  country  and  its  products  suffer  by  compari- 
son with  those  of  some  other  nations. 

There  are  some  representative  American  houses  in  China 
handling  American  goods,  but  there  is  room  for  more,  and 
American  manufacturers  should  see  that  their  goods  are 
handled  by  Americans.  Too  often  the  eastern  branches  of 
American  financial  and  industrial  concerns  are  managed  by 
foreigners  or  largely  manned  by  them.  This  is  looked  upon 
by  the  Chinese  as  a  confession  of  weakness  and  inferiority 
on  the  part  of  Americans  and  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
superior  business  ability  of  the  foreigner. 

From  patriotic,  no  less  than  business  motives,  Americans 
should  speedily  bring  about  a  change  in  these  conditions  and 
employ  Americans  only  in  the  exploitation  of  their  goods. 
It  will  be  a  fortunate  day  for  American  trade  with  China 
when  our  manufacturers  are  represented  by  American 
houses  employing  none  but  Americans  in  their  service,  for 
it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  foreigners  seek  employment  with 
such  concerns  for  the  sole  purpose  of  acquiring  inside  knowl- 
edge of  their  goods,  methods,  etc.,  to  be  later  used  to  the 
advantage  of  their  foreign  competitors. 

Cooperation  on  the  part  of  American  manufacturers  of 
goods  in  similar  lines,  but  which  do  not  compete,  in  the 
establishment  of  a  house  for  the  sale  of  their  respective  pro- 
ducts would  doubtless  prove  profitable  if  carried  out  on  a 
broad  scale,  with  able  management  and  a  complete  corps  of 


America's  opportunity  in  china  253 

competent  salesmen.  In  the  great  interior  districts  nearly- 
all  the  trade  is  in  the  hands  of  the  native  merchants  who 
purchase  their  goods  in  the  markets  of  the  great  ports,  and 
are  largely  guided  in  their  selections  by  their  correspondents 
in  these  distributing  centres.  Here  is  another  argument  for 
the  establishment  of  distinctly  American  houses  on  a  scale 
to  create  and  uphold  American  prestige.  In  some  of  the 
inland  districts  there  are  British,  German  and  French  firms 
engaged  in  the  importation  of  foreign  goods,  but  no  Ameri- 
cans. 

We  must  learn  one  thing  if  we  are  to  secure  our  rightful 
share  of  the  Chinese  business,  and  that  is  that  we  must  not 
be  too  impatient  for  immediate  profits.  Our  foreign  com- 
petitors are  willing  to  plant  the  seed  and  carefully  nurture 
the  young  and  growing  trade  until  it  is  ripe  for  the  harvest, 
while  too  many  American  firms  are  like  the  amateur  farmer 
who  digs  up  his  seed  every  day  or  two  to  see  if  they  are 
sprouting. 

Again,  in  order  to  create  and  maintain  intimate  and  per- 
manent commercial  relations  with  China,  we  must  acquire 
the  eastern  point  of  view  and  seek  to  meet  their  ideas  of 
their  requirements  rather  than  to  seek  to  foist  our  own  upon 
them. 

China  purchases  each  year  from  foreign  countries  more 
than  250  varieties  of  goods.  The  United  States  partici- 
pates in  less  than  half  of  these,  and  ranks  third  or  higher  in 
only  27.  This  can  hardly  be  said  to  represent  our  fair 
proportion  of  the  trade.  It  may  not  be  practicable  for  us 
to  compete  with  other  countries  in  all  these  lines,  but  there 
are  doubtless  some  in  which  we  do  not  now  particii)ate  in 
which  we  could  secure  a  portion  of  the  trade,  and  in  the  lines 
in  which  we  are  already  represented,  increased  sales  would 
doubtless  follow  the  adoption  of  vigorous  selling  methods. 

Among  the  articles  which  are  enjoying  an  increased 
demand,  with  every  promise  of  a  rapid  and  continued  in- 
crease for  many  years,  may  be  mentioned  the  following: 
Clothing,  boots  and  shoes,  cotton  and  woolen  goods,  bicycles, 
clocks  and  watches,  hats,  caps,  gloves,  hosiery,  lialjcM-daslxM-y 
and    underwear,    phonographs,    photographic    and    optical 


254  B.    ATWOOD    ROBINSON 

supplies,  lamps,  machinery,  railway  and  electrical  appli- 
ances, automobiles,  hardware  and  building  material. 

The  importance  of  adequate  American  banking  facilities 
in  China  cannot  be  overestimated.  The  cooperation  of 
leading  financial  interests  with  large  business  concerns,  with 
branches  in  Peking,  Shanghai,  and  other  large  business  cen- 
tres, for  the  purpose  of  financing  great  industrial  undertak- 
ings, as  well  as  furnishing  all  material,  engineering  and  con- 
struction, is  one  of  the  great  needs  of  the  day,  and  one  in 
which  Americans  are  sadly  behind  their  British  and  German 
competitors,  who  have  far  superior  organizations  in  China, 
and  make  a  more  careful  study  of  the  requirements  of  the 
market.  In  Germany,  in  particular,  the  banks  and  manu- 
facturers combine  their  interests  and  are  thus  prepared  to 
secure  profitable  business  by  granting  longer  credits  than  it  is 
possible  for  American  concerns,  to  give  under  existing  con- 
ditions. 

This  question  of  credits  enters  very  vitally  into  our  trade 
relations  with  China.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
we  develop  as  speedily  as  possible  this  cooperation  between 
our  financial  and  industrial  concerns,  if  we  are  to  maintain 
our  rightful  position  in  connection  with  China's  foreign 
trade. 

In  connection  with  railway  construction  and  equipment, 
electrical  and  mechanical  installations  and  general  construc- 
tion work,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  represen- 
tatives on  the  spot  be  competent  to  give  intelligent  informa- 
tion, specifications  and  quotations  without  delay.  Many  a 
good  contract  has  been  lost  to  a  foreign  competitor  because 
of  the  absence  of  these  requirements  on  the  part  of  the  Ameri- 
can representative. 

Illustrated  catalogues  printed  in  the  Chinese  language  are 
a  necessity  in  the  introduction  of  many  lines  of  goods,  and 
where  prices  are  quoted,  they  should  always  be  c.i.f.  Shang- 
hai or  some  other  Chinese  port,  as  the  people  there  have  no 
way  of  ascertaining  the  cost  of  transportation  from  interior 
cities  of  the  United  States, 

There  should  be  established  at  Shanghai  and  possibly 
other   important  trade  centres,   permanent  exhibitions  of 


AMERICA  S   OPPORTUNITY   IN   CHINA  255 

American  goods,  in  order  to  acquaint  the  people  with  our 
products. 

I  have  only  been  able  to  touch  briefly  on  a  few  of  the  most 
salient  features  bearing  on  successful  commercial  relations 
with  China,  and  now  to  sum  up : 

1.  China  has  a  population  of  upwards  of  400,000,000 
people  who  are  rapidly  developing  along  western  lines  of 
Uving,  with  all  the  increasing  demand  for  our  goods  conse- 
quent thereon. 

2.  The  country  has  enormous  natural  resources  which  are 
being  opened  up  to  the  markets  of  the  world  by  rapid  progress 
of  railway  construction,  thus  greatly  increasing  the  purchas- 
ing power  of  the  people. 

3.  Having  this  great  population  with  ever-increasing 
requirements  for  foreign  goods,  it  must  be  recognized  that 
China  will  in  the  future  furnish  a  great  outlet  for  our  sur- 
plus products.  Now,  therefore,  is  the  time  to  secure  a  firm 
foothold  and  establish  commercial  relations  that  will  gain 
for  us  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  Chinese  against  the 
time  of  their  great  commercial  activity. 

4.  We  must  make  a  careful  study  of  conditions  and  re- 
quirements and  acquire  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
demands  of  the  native  trade. 

5.  We  must  not  expect  immediately  profitable  results, 
but  by  acquiring  a  better  understanding  of  good  export 
methods  gradually  lay  the  foundations  of  the  great  business 
that  is  sure  to  follow. 

6.  Establish  adequate  banking  facilities,  and  put  none  but 
American  representatives  in  the  field,  backed  by  sincere 
and  genuinely  interested  producers. 

7.  Above  all  let  us  remember  that  American  prestige  is 
at  stake.  Not  merely  for  the  sake  of  financial  gain,  although 
this  is  sure  to  follow,  but  as  patriotic  Americans  let  us 
strive  to  attain  and  maintain  our  rightful  position  in  China's 
commercial  relations  with  the  world,  a  position  whicli  shall 
not  only  prove  financially  profitable  to  all  concerned,  but 
shall,  by  bringing  these  two  great  nations  into  close  and 
harmonious  conmiercial  relations,  materially  assist  in  hasten- 
ing the  day  of  universal  and  permanent  peace  amongst  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE  OF  SHANSI  PROVINCE 
By  Rev.  Paul  L.  Corbin  of  Shansi  Province 

The  province  of  Shansi  is  in  the  northern  tier  of  the  ori- 
ginal eighteen  provinces  of  China,  and  lies  between  Latitude 
35°  and  41°  North  and  Longitude  111°  to  114°  East.  The 
province  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Mongolia,  on  the  east 
by  Chihli,  the  metropolitan  province,  on  the  south  and  west 
by  the  Yellow  River,  separating  it  from  Honan  and  Shensi 
provinces  respectively.  The  area  of  the  province,  not  includ- 
ing the  districts  lying  to  the  north  of  the  Great  Wall,  is 
about  56,000  square  miles.  Its  population  has  been  vari- 
ously estimated  from  9,500,000  to  12,000,000. 

The  importance  of  the  province  from  an  industrial  view- 
point lies  in  two  facts:  first,  it  has  vast  deposits  of  mineral 
wealth;  second,  it  is,  in  a  sense,  the  gateway  to  the  north- 
west of  China  and  the  heart  of  Asia.  Certain  lines  of  travel 
across  the  province  have  long  indicated  that  one  of  its 
problems  when  the  awakening  to  the  touch  of  western  civili- 
zation comes  will  be  the  problem  of  transportation.  The 
chief  problem  in  its  industrial  development,  however,  con- 
cerns its  mineral  wealth. 

Before  discussing  either  of  these  problems  it  may  be  well 
to  describe  the  general  topography  of  the  province.  Rising 
from  the  low  plain  which  covers  the  greater  portion  of  Chihli 
Province  are  ranges  of  hills  extending  from  north  to  south. 
Shansi  lies  amid  these  hills.  It  is  made  up  of  successive 
ranges,  bisected  by  water-courses,  and  with  three  elevated 
plains,  or  basins.  The  greater  number  of  streams  in  the 
mountains  are,  naturally,  tributary  to  the  Yellow  River: 
the  river  of  chief  importance  among  these  is  the  Fen,  which 
drains  the  central,  largest,  and  most  important  of  the  three 
plateaus.  The  lower  ranges  of  hills  are  of  the  wonderful 
loess  formation,  and  are  tillable.  The  higher  ranges  approach 
to  the  dignity  of  mountains,  and  are,  for  the  most  part, 

256 


INDUSTRIAL   FUTURE   OP   SHANSI   PROVINCE  257 

rocky  and  with  scant  vegetation.  Broadly  speaking,  the 
ranges  diminish  in  altitude  as  one  travels  from  the  north  to 
the  south. 

The  first  investigator  into  the  mineral  resources  of  Shansi 
was  a  German  scholar,  Baron  von  Richthofen.  In  con- 
nection with  extensive  journeys  through  all  China  to  deter- 
mine the  industrial  possibilities,  this  indefatigable  explorer 
traveled  across  Shansi  in  1870,  approaching  from  the  south 
and  following  the  great  central  highway  of  the  province 
from  Pingyangfu  to  Jaiyuanfu,  the  provincial  capital.  He 
returned  some  months  later  for  a  second  visit,  reaching  on 
that  occasion  the  northern  districts  of  the  province.  It  is 
certain  that  he  did  not  see  a  great  part  of  the  bituminous 
coal  field  of  Shansi,  but  he  saw  the  best-known  portions  of 
the  anthracite  field.  He  also  investigated  some  of  the  dis- 
tricts where  iron  is  produced.  He  concluded  that  the  east- 
ern half  of  the  province  over-lay  a  vast  bed  of  anthracite, 
while  in  the  western  half  there  were  extensive  bituminous 
formations,  the  two  fields  being  separated  by  the  basin  of 
the  Fen  River.  However,  the  writer  has  found  bituminous 
mines  in  the  very  center  of  what  von  Richthofen  described 
as  the  anthracite  field,  and  there  are  other  indications  that 
the  respective  fields  may  not  be  as  regular  in  outline  as  he 
thought.  It  is  probably  true,  too,  that  von  Richthofen 
under-estimated  rather  than  overestimated  the  bituminous 
fields.  Certain  very  rich  districts  he  did  not  visit  at  all. 
But  he  was  evidently  very  greatly  impressed  by  what  he 
saw,  and  wrote  that  "there  is  coal  enough  in  Shansi  to  last 
the  world  for  thousands  of  years  at  the  present  rate  of  con- 
sumption." A  recent  writer  has  said  that  the  anthracite 
deposits  of  Shansi  alone  are  equal  to  all  the  anthracite  depo- 
sits of  the  United  States. 

The  information  von  Richthofen  gave  naturally  drew  some 
attention  to  the  mineral  wealth  of  Shansi.  For  a  long  time, 
however,  no  effort  was  made  either  by  the  foreigners  or 
by  the  Chinese  themselves,  aside  from  the  crude  methods 
already  in  vogue,  to  exploit  this  mineral  wealth.  The  con- 
ditions of  transportation,  the  lack  of  markets  in  north  (^hiiia, 
and  the  fact  that  China  was  stil^  a  sealed  land,  made  it 


258  PAUL   L.    CORBIN 

impossible  to  act  upon  the  information  von  Richthofen  gave 
for  many  years.  The  year  1898  saw  far-reaching  changes 
imminent  in  north  China,  following  the  reform  program  of  the 
Emperor  Kuang  Hsii.  In  that  year  a  mining  concession  in 
Shansi  was  granted  to  the  Peking  Syndicate.  The  over- 
throw of  the  reform  party,  and  the  reactionary  poHcy  of  the 
government  which  followed,  culminating  in  the  so-called 
"Boxer  rebellion"  in  1900,  kept  the  Syndicate  from  begin- 
ning the  development  of  its  concession.  Later,  however,  as 
the  railway  from  Chengtingfu  to  Taiyuanfu  penetrated  the 
eastern  ranges  of  Shansi,  so  affording  an  outlet  by  rail  to 
Peking  and  Tientsin,  the  Syndicate  began  to  open  up  its 
field.  Experts  were  sent  in  to  make  careful  investigations, 
especially  in  the  department  of  Pingting.  A  base  was  estab- 
hshed  in  that  department  and  houses  erected  for  the  foreign 
stafT, 

About  this  time  the  Chinese  themselves  awoke  to  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  concession  they  had  given.  The  terms  of  the 
concession  were  manifestly  not  liberal  to  the  Chinese.  They 
made  it  practically  impossible  for  the  native  mine-owners 
to  work  their  mines  by  modern  methods,  or  for  native  capital 
to  open  up  new  mines.  An  agitation  against  the  Syndicate 
was  begun,  given  some  dramatic  touches  by  the  students 
in  the  provincial  capital,  and  carried  to  an  issue  that  the 
people  of  Shansi  esteemed  successful  when,  in  1907,  the  Syn- 
dicate was  ousted  from  the  province.  The  concession  was 
given  up,  but  the  people  of  the  province  indemnified  the 
Peking  Syndicate  to  the  amount  of  2,750,000  taels.  Every 
sincere  wellwisher  of  China  must  regret  that  this  outcome  was 
necessary.  Had  the  terms  of  the  concession  been  fair  and 
liberal  to  the  Chinese,  the  Peking  Syndicate  might  today  be 
in  possession  of  its  concession,  at  work  in  that  magnificent 
field,  and  pajdng  regular  dividends  to  satisfied  and  happy 
stockholders. 

Prior  to  the  ousting  of  the  Peking  Syndicate  the  Chinese 
themselves  had  organized  a  company,  called,  the  "Pao 
Chin  Kung  Ssu,"  i.e.,  the  "Corporation  for  the  Protection 
of  Shansi,"  Chin  being  an  ancient  name  of  Shansi.  This 
company  took  over  the  buildings  erected  by  the    Peking 


INDUSTRIAL   FUTURE   OP   SHANSI   PROVINCE  259 

Syndicate  in  the  Pingting  department  and  endeavored  to 
supersede  that  corporation  in  its  program  for  that  field.  It 
employed  as  its  foreign  engineer  a  young  man  whose  chief 
qualifications  for  the  office  were  that  he  had  lived  a  good 
many  years  in  China  and  spoke  the  Chinese  language.  That 
he  knew  nothing  of  mining  engineering  was,  evidently,  not 
considered  a  disabiUty.  Under  the  guidance  of  this  expert 
(?)  the  corporation  did  not  make  any  great  progress,  at  least 
in  adopting  modern  methods  of  working.  The  engineer 
traveled  extensively  throughout  the  district,  but  left  neither 
maps  of  his  journeys  nor  memoranda  of  his  investigations. 
The  company  bought  coal  delivered  by  pack-animals  at  the 
railway  stations,  and  sold  it  in  yards  opened  in  Peking  and 
Tientsin.  That  is  the  method  being  followed  today.  The 
area  from  which  the  coal  is  drawn  is  comparatively  limited, 
and  the  methods  of  mining  employed  are  still  of  the  crudest. 

In  the  district  of  Hsiao-yi,  80  miles  southwest  of  the  pro- 
vincial capital,  a  company  of  Chinese  has  installed  modern 
machinery  for  pumping  and  hoisting.  The  cost  of  transport- 
ing the  machinery  from  the  coast  was  enormous  and  install- 
ing it  was  a  long  and  expensive  process.  The  German 
engineers  sent  to  supervise  the  installation  of  the  machinery 
were  far  from  being  experts  in  that  line  of  work.  In  due 
time  they  turned  the  mines  over  to  the  Chinese  again  and 
with  a  result  as  inevitable  as  it  was  deplorable.  Success 
in  hoisting  unheard  of  quantities  of  coal  led  to  experiments 
in  the  lower  levels  of  the  mine.  Props  gave  way,  fifty  or 
sixty  lives  were  crushed  out,  the  mine  was  flooded,  and  a 
lot  of  expensive  machinery  is  rusting  in  and  about  that  pit. 

The  natives  have  both  surface  and  pit  mines  in  Shansi. 
In  the  latter  the  coal  is  hoisted  with  a  windlass,  turned  by 
animal  power  or  by  hand.  In  one  mine  I  have  visited,  the 
only  light  possible  in  the  pit  is  from  lighted  sticks  of  punk, 
giving  an  illumination  considerably  less  than  the  glowing  tip 
of  a  cigar.  Labor  under  such  conditions  must  be  oxtremeiy 
difficult.  In  this  mine  the  men  were  paid  a  wage  20  per 
cent  in  advance  of  the  cost  of  other  lines  of  manual  Iabf)r  in 
that  region,  yet  an  excellent  quality  of  soft  coal  sold  at  the 
pit's  mouth  at  the  equivalent  of  90  cents  a  ton.     When  the 


260  PAUL   L.    CORBIN 

competition  was  keener  the  price  had  been  as  low  as  60  cents 
a  ton. 

The  chief  iron  producing  districts  of  the  province  are 
the  prefecture  of  Ts^hchow  in  the  southwest,  and  the  depart- 
ment of  Pinptinp;  in  tlie  east,  the  latter  tapped  by  the  nar- 
row-guage  C'heng-ting-Taiyuan  railway.  Other  iron  de- 
posits are  in  the  Yungning  and  Ninghsiang  districts  in  the 
west  of  the  province,  where  some  pig-iron  of  poor  quality 
is  produced,  and  used  locally,  and  in  the  Ningwu  prefecture 
in  the  north  of  the  province.  The  Tsehchow  and  Pingting 
fields  have  been  quite  extensively  worked  in  the  crude  native 
fashion ;  its  must  be,  however,  that  they  are  capable  of  great 
development  under  improved  methods. 

While  speaking  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  province  we 
must  not  neglect  the  saline  deposits.  In  the  southwest 
near  the  walled  town  of  Ylin-cheng  is  a  salt  lake,  farmed  out 
to  a  large  number  of  native  companies,  and  from  which  the 
government  derives  so  considerable  a  revenue  that  an  official 
staff  is  stationed  there  to  care  for  it.  There  is  also  a  deposit 
of  gypsum  in  this  neighborhood.  In  the  central  plain  of 
the  pro"\ance  in  the  Taiyuan  prefecture,  the  natives  have 
opened  numerous  salt  wells.  The  salt  from  these  wells  is 
very  bitter  and  decidedly  inferior  in  quality  to  that  from  the 
Yiin-cheng  lake.  There  are  saHne  deposits,  also,  in  Suiyuan 
in  the  extreme  north  of  the  province  on  the  Mongolian  bor- 
der, and  in  Fengchen  in  the  northeast,  the  latter  district  also 
producing  some  soda. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  mineral  resources 
of  the  province  are  rich,  especially  in  coal  and  iron.  The 
problem  is,  to  develop  these  resources  by  improvements  in 
the  methods  and  by  putting  them  in  touch  with  the  markets. 
This  leads  us  naturally  to  consider  the  problem  of  transporta- 
tion. 

In  the  palmy  days  of  the  Manchu  dynasty  Shansi  reached  a 
high  degree  of  affluence,  but  it  was  not  through  the  develop- 
ment of  the  natural  resources  of  the  province.  Great  for- 
tunes were  made  by  bankers  and  pawn-shop  men  in  the  four 
corners  of  the  empire  and  the  fruits  of  those  fortunes  were 
escorted  into  Shansi  over  almost  impassable  trails  to  the 


INDUSTRIAL  FUTURE  OF  SHANSI  PROVINCE     261 

accompaniment  of  tinkling  donkey-bells.  All  about  the 
mineral  riches  of  the  province  nature  had  thrown  an  almost 
insurmountable  mountain  barrier.  The  perseverance  of 
men  has,  however,  succeeded  in  throwing  roadways  or  trails 
over  range  after  range  of  mountains,  and  in  maintaining  a 
great  number  of  carriers  upon  these  road-ways.  It  would 
be  profitable  indeed,  did  time  permit,  to  describe  these  an- 
cient thoroughfares.  They  have  a  charm  and  a  romance  all 
their  own.  It  is  more  to  the  point,  however,  to  consider  the 
efforts  of  modern  engineers  to  penetrate  Shansi's  mountain 
fastnesses.  There  is  but  one  completed  railway  line  into 
Shansi.  A  narrow-guage  road,  with  its  eastern  terminus 
at  Shih  Chia  Chuang,  near  Chengtingfu,  on  the  Peking  Han- 
kow line  in  Chihli  Province,  runs  almost  due  west  to  Tai- 
yuanfu.  The  road  is  very  crooked  and  the  engineering 
difficulties  have  been  considerable.  The  total  length  is 
about  151  miles.  In  that  distance  there  are  eighteen  tunnels 
and  a  large  number  of  bridges  and  culverts.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  the  road  is  narrow-guage,  but  such  is  the 
character  of  the  country  traversed  that  to  have  constructed 
a  standard-guage  road  would  have  multiplied  the  cost  four- 
fold. 

One  other  road  into  Shansi  is  under  construction,  namely, 
an  extension  of  the  Peking-Kalgan  line  to  Suiyuan  and 
Kweihuating,  important  commercial  centers,  on  the  Mongo- 
lian border.  Inside  the  province  a  railway  line  is  under 
construction,  the  so-called  Jung-Pu  Railway,  the  ultimate 
termini  of  which  are  to  be  Tatungf  u  in  the  north  and  Puchow- 
fu  in  the  southwest,  on  the  Yellow  River,  at  the  gateway  to 
Shensi  Province.  At  the  northern  terminus  the  road  is  to 
connect  with  the  extension  of  the  Peking-Kalgan  line.  It 
will  run  through  Taiyuanfu  and  will  follow  in  a  general  way, 
the  great  central  highway  that  has  for  centuries  been  the 
connecting  link  between  Taiyuanfu  and  Sianfu.  Thus  far 
grading  has  been  done  between  Yiitzu,  on  the  Cheng-ting- 
Taiyuan  line,  and  Taiku,  25  miles  to  the  south  and  west. 
The  outbreak  of  the  revolution  in  the  autumn  of  1911  stopped 
work  upon  this  section  of  the  road  shortly  before  the  layinjj 
of  rails  would  have  been  begun. 


262  PAUL   L.    CORBIN 

Tlie  old  trade  routes  followed  the  lines  of  least  physical 
rosistniico  through  the  mountain  ranges,  usually  in  or  near 
tlio  hods  of  water  courses.  The  railways  thus  far  constructed 
or  under  construction  have,  with  certain  modifications, 
followed  the  old  trade  routes.  Generally  speaking,  this 
will  probably  be  advisable  in  future  railway  construction, 
though  thorough  scientific  investigation  may  open  up  some 
new  fields  for  industrial  development  that  even  the  ingenious 
Chinese  ha\e  not  yet  discovered. 

It  is  practically  certain  that  with  the  development  of 
Shansi's  mineral  wealth  and  industrial  possibilities  one  nar- 
row-guage  railwa}^  will  be  entirely  inadequate  to  care  for  the 
traffic.  Other  outlets  must,  therefore,  be  sought.  The 
central  trunk  line  connecting  with  the  extension  of  the  Peking 
Kalgan  line  will,  to  a  certain  extent,  relieve  the  pressure. 
Further  than  that,  it  will  doubtless  be  necessary  to  construct 
a  line  from  the  rich  central  plain  in  a  southeasterly  direc- 
tion to  northern  Honan,  following  a  well-known  and  impor- 
tant trade-route,  and  the  coal  and  iron  fields  of  Luan  and 
Tsechow  might  well  find  an  outlet  to  Shuntefu  or  Changtefu 
to  the  east.  Moreover,  for  the  fullest  industrial  develop- 
ment it  will  be  necessary  to  build  a  number  of  branch  Unes 
or  "spurs,"  especially  to  tap  the  richer  coal  fields. 

The  Yellow  River,  which  forms  the  western  and  southern 
boundaries  of  Shansi,  caimot  be  considered  an  asset  in  any 
solution  of  the  provinces  transportation  problem.  Some 
cargo  boats  go  down  the  river,  but,  at  any  rate  along  those 
reaches,  none  return  up-stream.  When  the  boats  reach 
the  northern  border  of  Honan  they  are  broken  up  and  the 
lumber  sold.  Within  the  province  itself  there  are  no  navig- 
able streams.  Occasionally  small  scows  appear  in  the  Fen, 
the  largest  of  these  streams,  for  the  transport  of  flour  and 
coal;  but  the  river  is  frequently  drained  of  its  entire  stream 
to  supply  the  irrigating  ditches  of  the  fertile  mid-Shansi 
plain.  In  summing  up  our  consideration  of  this  transporta- 
tion problem  we  should  say  that  the  most  hopeful  suggestion 
for  the  industrial  future  of  Shansi  lies  in  the  extension  of  the 
railway  system. 

The  question  of  afforestation  should  receive  some  atten- 


INDUSTRIAL   FUTURE   OF   SHANSI   PROVINCE  263 

tion.  It  is  probable  that  more  than  three-fourths  of  the 
area  of  the  province  was  at  one  time  covered  with  forest. 
The  desiccation  of  the  province  in  recent  periods  owing  to 
deforestation  has  been  marked,  and  this  was  to  a  large  extent 
responsible  for  the  terrible  famine  of  1877-78  which  claimed 
the  lives  of  between  five  and  sLx  million  people  in  Shansi 
alone.  Edwards  of  Taiyuanfu  computed  the  rainfall  for 
an  entire  year  at  sixteen  inches.  The  average  is  probably 
a  little  higher  than  that.  Atwood  projected  a  theory  that 
the  rainfall  increases  and  diminishes  in  a  cycle  covering 
twenty-four  years,  perhaps  gathering  data  to  support  an 
idea  he  received  from  native  sources.  This,  however,  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  question  of  afforestation.  An  arbore- 
tum at  Taikuhsien  contains  about  twenty  varieties  of  forest 
trees  than  can  be  successfully  cultivated  in  Shansi  soil. 
In  the  roofs  of  temples  and  other  large  buildings  are  found 
timbers  that  indicate  something  of  the  size  and  distribution 
of  the  forests  in  the  past;  while  in  the  back  blocks  in  both 
the  eastern  and  western  ranges  of  hills  are  yet  to  be  found  the 
disappearing  remnants  of  the  former  extensive  woodlands. 
Early  and  careful  attention  to  the  work  of  reforestation  would 
provide  needed  building  material  for  the  future  and  would, 
at  the  same  time,  affect  favorably  the  rainfall  and  so  bear 
upon  the  problem  of  developing  the  agricultural  resources. 
In  the  last  years  of  the  late  dynasty  certain  governors  of 
the  province  gave  this  question  their  attention,  but  the  meas- 
ures they  proposed  were  never  carried  out. 

An  important  problem  in  the  industrial  future  of  Shansi 
is  the  development  of  agricultural  resources.  In  soil,  climate 
and  diversity  of  products  the  province  has  been  singularly 
favored  by  nature.  The  wonderful  loess  formation  ccncrs 
the  entire  province,  and  because  of  that  fact  many  of  the 
hills  are  cultivable  to  their  very  summits.  The  climate 
while  similar  to  that  of  the  same  latitude  in  America,  is  not 
subject  to  such  extremes.  But  it  is  in  diversity  of  products 
that  Shansi's  claim  to  agricultural  wealth  and  importance 
lies.  The  following  are  some  of  them:  field  products; 
wheat  (both  spring  and  winter),  millet  (4  or  5  varieties), 
Kaoling,  oats  (both  summer  and  autumn),  rice,  buckwheat, 


204  PAUL   L.    CORBIN 

barley,  maize,  and  beans.  Other  field  products  are  hemp, 
cotton,  flax  (in  the  extreme  northeast),  indigo,  tobacco, 
and  willows  for  basket  weaving.  The  hills,  especially  in  the 
northwest,  yield  large  quantities  of  licorice  and  ginger,  and 
a  crude  silk  is  produced  in  the  districts  bordering  the  Yellow 
River.  Among  the  j)roducts  of  the  gardens  are  potatoes 
(superior  quality),  yams,  sweet  potatoes,  peppers,  onions, 
melons  (4  or  5  varieties),  and  practically  all  the  products  of 
American  and  European  gardens.  Among  the  fruits  pro- 
duced are  apples,  pears,  persimmons,  grapes  (some  six 
varieties),  peaches,  plums,  dates,  mulberries,  cherries,  wal- 
nuts (the  finest  in  China),  and  strawberries,  the  last  named 
introduced  by  foreigners. 

The  most  important  cereals  produced  in  Shansi  are  wheat 
and  millet.  The  normal  land  valuation  is  probably  deter- 
mined by  wheat,  just  as  it  is  fixed  by  rice  in  south  China. 
The  agi'icultural  problem  is  made  acute  just  now  in  Shansi 
by  the  necessity  of  finding  the  best  substitute  for  the  poppy 
formerly  so  extensively  cultivated.  The  poppy  demanded 
the  richest  irrigable  lands  and  sapped  the  vitality  of  the 
soil.  In  the  four  years  since  its  cultivation  was  prohibited 
much  of  the  land  has  returned  to  wheat  as  the  spring  crop 
and  millet  as  the  autumn  crop,  with  the  result  not  only  that 
the  price  of  flour  has  fallen  in  the  wheat-producing  districts, 
but  also  that  millions  of  bushels  of  both  the  above  mentioned 
cereals  have  been  shipped  via  the  Chengting-Taiyuan  rail- 
way to  supply  the  markets  of  Chihli  and  Honan.  Though 
opium  is  the  most  profitable  crop,  financially,  the  farmer  of 
North  China  has  ever  grown,  its  contribution  to  general 
prosperity  was  negligible,  and  it  has  been  interesting  to 
observe  that  since  the  prohibition  of  its  cultivation  and  the 
substitution  of  wheat  and  millet  as  staple  crops,  though  the 
immediate  financial  return  for  them  is  much  less  the  general 
prosperity,  as  guaged  by  two  excellent  criteria,  the  amount 
of  building  and  repairing  done,  and  the  number  of  theatrical 
performances  held  in  the  villages,  is  much  greater.  Opium, 
because  immediately  a  more  profitable  crop  gave  to  the  land 
a  fictitious  valuation.  This  was  from  30  to  60  per  cent  above 
the  normal  valuation  as  fixed  by  wheat.     The  economic 


INDUSTRIAL   FUTURE   OF   SHANSI   PROVINCE  265 

readjustment  necessary  now  that  opium  may  no  longer  be 
produced  constitutes  the  crux  of  the  agricultural  problem  in 
Shansi.  Careful  study  must  be  given  to  the  question  of  the 
best  substitute  for  the  poppy. 

Shansi  was  formerly  one  of  the  leading  provinces  in  the 
production  of  opium.  The  easily  irrigated  fields  alongside 
the  watercourses,  and  where  the  mountain  streams  flowed 
out  upon  the  plains,  were  covered  with  patches  of  poppy. 
The  local  markets  cared  for  much  of  it,  but  a  good  deal  was 
shipped  out  to  Peking  and  Tientsin,  or  over  the  Luanfu 
road  to  Honan.  In  1909  the  edict  calling  for  the  gradual 
cessation  of  poppy  growing  took  effect  in  Shansi.  In  the 
spring  of  that  year  I  traveled  several  hundred  miles  in  central 
Shansi,  in  five  separate  prefectures  or  departments,  and 
along  mountain  streams  where  the  year  before  the  poppy  had 
been  extensively  grown.  Everywhere  I  made  careful  inves- 
tigations, and  I  found  that  no  opium  was  being  planted 
anywhere.  In  the  following  spring,  1910,  in  the  Chiao- 
Ch'eng  and  Wen-Shui  districts,  the  former  in  the  Taiyuan, 
the  latter  in  the  Fenchow  prefectures,  near  the  market- 
town  of  K'ai-Chia-Chen,  the  farmers  attempted  to  resume 
the  cultivation  of  the  poppy.  The  then  governor  of  the 
province,  His  Excellency  Ting  Pao-ch'iian,  finding  that  the 
local  officials  were  powerless  to  cope  with  the  situation,  sent 
a  wellknown  scholar  and  orator  to  plead  with  the  people. 
This  amicable  method  was  unsuccessful,  and  the  eloquent 
advocate  was  hustled  out  of  the  district.  Then  the  governor 
sent  troops  to  uproot  the  poppy  plants  and  repress  the  rcbel- 
hon  of  the  people.  A  sharp  fight  followed  in  which  about 
twenty  farmers  were  killed,  a  good  many  others  wounded, 
and  several  soldiers  suffered  severe  wounds.  However,  the 
authorities  triumphed,  and  the  farmers  abandoned  the  at- 
tempt to  grow  the  poppy.  This  test  case  had  been  followed 
with  keen  interest  throughout  the  entire  province  and  its 
outcome  had  a  salutary  influence  everywhere.  For  the 
sternness  of  his  repressive  measures  Governor  Ting  lost  his 
official  head,  a  result  that  he  himself  probably  anticipated. 
He  has  since  been  living  in  retirement  in  the  city  of  Shanghai. 

The  influence  of  the  K'ai-Chia-Chen  afi"air  was  carried 


266  PAUL   L.    CORBIN 

over  into  the  next  year,  1911.  The  impression  has  been 
given  in  an  earher  address  in  this  conference  (Hon.  J.  O.  P. 
Bland,  "The  Suppression  of  the  Opium  Traffic")  that  the 
Chinese  did  not  fully  keep  their  agreement  with  Great  Bri- 
tain in  the  matter  of  opium  growing  in  1911.  I  can  speak 
only  for  Shansi,  but  mj^  personal  observation  there  includes 
the  valleys  of  the  Fen,  Hsaio,  K'ai,  Wu-na,  Liu  Chih,  and 
Yii  Tao  Rivers,  as  well  as  the  district  surrounding  the  great 
spring  at  Chin  Ssu  and  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  Pei  Chwan 
in  the  extreme  west  of  the  province.  All  these  were  districts 
where  formerly  the  poppy  was  extensively  cultivated.  No 
poppies  were  grown  there  in  1911.  Careful  inquiry  in  all 
sections  of  the  province  has  elicited  the  information  that 
everywhere  the  edict  was  enforced  in  1911  as  it  had  been  in 
1909  and  1910. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year,  1912,  the  people  of  Shansi 
took  advantage  of  disturbed  conditions  in  the  country  at 
large  and  sought  to  recoup  themselves  for  the  losses  of  the 
past  three  years  by  extensively  planting  the  poppy.  When 
I  left  the  province  about  the  first  of  May  the  poppy  plants 
were  just  pushing  their  way  through  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  The  province  has,  since  the  first  of  November  1911, 
been  under  a  military  government,  headed  by  a  Tutuh, 
Yen  Hsi-shan.  This  provisional  government  will  continue 
until  after  the  general  elections  in  January  1913.  Early  in 
the  year  General  Yen  put  out  a  mandate  forbidding  the 
planting  of  the  poppy,  and  threatening  with  punishment 
according  to  militarj^  law  those  who  disregarded  the  man- 
date. This  manifesto  was  in  some  districts  preceded,  in 
other  districts  accompanied  or  followed  by  strong  proclama- 
tions on  the  part  of  the  local  officials.  The  people,  however, 
disregarded  the  military  governor's  orders  and  continued  to 
water  their  poppy  fields.  In  June,  just  before  the  poppy 
could  yield  its  harvest.  General  Yen  sent  a  special  deputy, 
with  military  escort,  into  the  Chiao-Ch'eng  district,  not  far 
from  where  the  rioting  had  occurred  in  1910.  The  farmers 
attacked  this  deputy,  killed  him,  and  wounded  many  mem- 
bers of  his  escort,  at  the  same  time  burning  the  deputy's 
official  residence.     Troops  were  sent  by  Governor  Yen,  the 


INDUSTRIAL   FUTURE   OF   SHANSI   PROVINCE  267 

incipient  rebellion  was  crushed  with  some  loss  of  life,  and 
the  fields  of  poppies  were  destroyed.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  in  other  sections  of  the  province  the  crop  was  allowed 
to  come  to  harvest.  But  those  who  best  understand  the 
purposes  of  the  new  government  are  most  certain  that  this 
backset  in  the  opium  reform  in  Shansi  can  be  but  temporary. 
For  we  should  remember  that  General  Yen's  strong  measures 
were  employed  at  a  time  when  the  republic  was  not  firmly 
established,  and  when  his  own  position  and  the  position  of 
the  central  government  at  Peking  was  precarious.  That 
he  was  willing  to  take  such  risks  at  such  a  time  is  surelj^  an 
earnest  of  the  purpose  of  the  new  government  to  fulfil  with 
Great  Britain  the  compact  of  the  old  government. 

After  living  for  eight  years  in  Shansi  and  carefully  observ- 
ing the  economic,  physiological,  and  moral  results  of  the 
cultivation  and  use  of  opium,  I  am  prepared  to  say  without 
any  reservations  that  it  is  an  evil  and  only  an  evil  so  far  as 
the  Chinese  are  concerned.  A  speaker  in  this  conference 
quoted  certain  authorities  (and  in  the  quoting  left  the  im- 
pression that  he  endorsed  their  views)  as  saying  that  opium- 
smoking  indicates  a  racial  tendency  of  the  Chinese.  As 
we  consider  this  statement  let  us  briefly  review  the  history 
of  opium  in  China. 

Previous  to  the  famous  T'ang  dynasty  the  poppy  was 
unknown  to  the  Chinese.  It  is  first  mentioned  in  Chinese 
literature  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighth  century.  At  that 
time  China  had  had  intercourse  with  Arabia  for  about 
one  hundred  years.  Its  second  mention  in  the  literature  of 
the  country  was  by  Kuo,  a  Shensi  man,  toward  the  end  of 
the  eighth  century.  The  poet  Yung  Tao,  a  Szechuen  man, 
about  900-906  wrote  a  poem  describing  the  poppies  growing 
near  his  home.  I  have  mentioned  the  localities  of  these  two 
writers  because  the  provinces  of  Shensi  and  Szechuen  later 
extensively  cultivated  the  poppy. 

At  first  the  Chinese  used  only  the  seeds,  but  four  medi- 
cal writers,  probably  of  the  twelth  century,  refer  to  the  use 
of  the  seed-pods,  or  capsules.  In  the  thirteenth  century 
three  and  in  the  fourteenth  century  one  writer  on  medicine 
tell  of  a  drug  made  from  the  capsule.     When  the  petals  have 


268  PAUL   L.    CORBIN 

fallen  away  from  the  seed-pod,  and  before  the  latter  begins 
to  harden,  incisions  are  made  in  the  pod  with  some  sharp 
instrument,  and  the  dark,  viscous  juice  that  oozes  out  is 
carefully  gathered.  That  is  the  raw  opium.  Cutting  the 
capsule  in  this  way  was  first  described  by  Wang  Hsi,  who 
died  in  14SS.  lie  was  governor  of  Kansuh  Province  for 
many  years.  There  he  saw  a  great  many  ]\Iohammedans 
and  learned  from  them  of  Arabia.  By  the  end  of  the  fif- 
teenth century  the  method  of  preparing  opium  was  intro- 
duced to  China  by  the  Arabs.  Li  Ting  in  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century  gives  an  exact  account  of  the  preparation 
of  the  opium  under  the  name  a-fu-yung.  (The  Arabs  took  the 
Greek  name,  6Tri.ov,  and  called  it  afyun.  In  China's  coast 
provinces  this  was  changed  to  ya-p'ien.  But  in  Yunnan 
Province  it  is  still  referred  to  by  officials  as  fu-yung,  which  is 
a-fu-yung  without  the  prefix.) 

All  this  while  opium  was  known  only  as  a  medicine.  As 
such  it  is  extremely  valuable  and  has  a  place  in  the  pharma- 
copeia of  every  civiUzed  nation.  We  are  dealing,  however, 
with  its  misuse  or  abuse.  Early  in  the  seventeenth  century 
the  Spaniards  introduced  tobacco  smoking  to  the  Chinese. 
About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  use  of 
opium  mingled  with  tobacco  was  introduced  by  the  Dutch. 
Opium  was  first  smoked  by  itself  (by  the  Chinese)  probably 
near  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  first  edict 
forbidding  the  smoking  of  opium  was  issued  by  the  Emperor 
Yung  Cheng  in  1729.  Foreign  opium  (the  prepared  drug) 
was  first  introduced  by  the  Portuguese  at  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  The  iUicit  trade  in  the  drug  was 
taken  up  by  the  British  before  the  end  of  that  century.  In 
line  with  the  Chinese  resistance  before  and  after  that  date 
the  Emperor  Chia  Ch'ing  in  1796  put  forth  an  edict  pro- 
hibiting the  importation  of  the  foreign  drug.  That  the 
shameless  smuggUng  continued,  championed  at  last  by 
Great  Britain,  is  a  matter  of  common  understanding.  So 
China  learned  of  the  poppy  from  the  Arabs,  was  given  the 
pipe  by  the  Spaniards,  was  taught  to  mingle  opium  with 
tobacco  in  the  bowl  of  the  pipe  by  the  Dutch,  had  the  foreign 
drug  brought  to  her  by  the  Portuguese,  and  had  the  business 


INDUSTRIAIi  FUTURE    OF   SHANSI   PROVINCE  269 

in  opium  forced  upon  her  by  the  British.  Strange  that  so 
much  foreign  assistance  should  have  been  necessary  in  the 
discovery  of  a  "racial  tendency"  in  the  Chinese! 

To  recapitulate:  the  Chinese  have  known  of  the  poppy 
for  twelve  centuries,  have  used  opium  as  a  medicine  for  nine 
centuries,  have  known  of  the  method  of  securing  raw  opium 
from  the  capsule,  or  seed-pod,  for  six  centuries,  and  have 
known  of  and  practised  smoking  for  considerably  less  than 
three  centuries.  China  is  an  old  country'.  She  points  with 
pride  to  an  unbroken  history  of  four  thousand  six  hundred 
years.  For  three  thousand  four  hundred  years  of  that  time 
she  existed  in  bhssful  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  there  was 
any  such  thing  as  opium.  For  more  than  four  thousand 
three  hundred  years  she  failed  utterly  to  reveal  what  Air. 
Bland  would  have  us  beheve  is  a  "racial  tendency."  Surely 
in  the  light  of  such  facts  we  may  at  least  assume  an  attitude 
of  what  that  gentleman  describes  as  "suspended  judgment" 
before  accepting  the  suggestion  that  opium  smoking  indi- 
cates a  "racial  tendency"  of  the  Chinese. 

Other  lines  along  which  help  is  needed  are,  instruction  in 
seed  selection,  and  in  the  problem  of  irrigation.  The  spring- 
fed  mountain  streams  reaching  the  plains  are  diverted  into 
ingenious  and  truly  admirable  systems  of  irrigating  ditches. 
However,  the  mountains  denuded  of  their  forests  frequently 
allow  these  streams  to  become,  in  the  time  of  the  summer 
rains,  uncontrollable  torrents  that  carry  destruction  instead 
of  blessing  to  the  villages  of  the  plains.  Reforestation  will 
help  in  this  matter,  but  there  should  also  be  an  improvement 
in  the  system  of  irrigating  canals,  possibly  through  the  con- 
struction of  reservoirs,  that  will  conserve  the  gifts  of  the 
summer  rains  and  not  allow  them  to  rush  into  the  lower 
reaches  of  the  Yellow  River  carrying  a  wealth  of  loess  soil  as 
they  go  and  leaving  destruction  in  their  train.  Improve- 
ments are  possible  in  the  crops  now  produced  in  Shansi, 
both  in  kind  and  quality.  There  should  be  an  extension  of 
sericulture,  for  thousands  of  acres  in  the  hills  bordering  the 
Yellow  River  are  adapted  to  the  production  of  the  mull)orry. 
The  hemp,  potatoes,  and  walnuts  of  the  province  should  find 
ready  markets  at  the  coast  were  the  problems  of  transporta- 


270  PAUL   L.    CORBIN 

tion  not  so  groat.  Tho  fundamental  question,  therefore,  in 
the  development  of  agriculture  as  of  mineral  resources  is  one 
of  transportation. 

We  take  up  now  the  manufacturing  possibilities  of  the 
proxince.  The}'  may  be  suggested  as  we  recapitulate  some 
products  of  the  region  and  mention  a  few  others  that  have 
not  yet  been  named.  The  existence  of  iron  and  coal  fields 
side  by  side  suggests  the  development  of  iron  and  steel 
foundries.  Cotton  and  silk  are  both  produced,  and  are  now 
woven  in  primitive  fashion  in  the  homes  of  the  peasants. 
Cotton  mills  and  silk  filatures  are  a  possibility  of  the  future. 
A  large  amount  of  excellent  earthern  and  stone  ware  is 
turned  out  in  simple  kilns  in  several  districts.  This  indus- 
try is  capable  of  great  expansion  as  the  markets  of  the  coast 
are  brought  nearer  through  improvements  in  transportation. 
The  uplands,  with  their  excellent  oat  straw,  suggest  possibili- 
ties in  braid  and  paper,  especially  since  there  is  an  abundance 
of  water  power  available.  In  Tan  Ts'un  in  the  Taiyuan 
prefecture  are  kilns  where  glass  is  produced,  some  bottles 
of  small  size  being  blown,  but  the  chief  products  being  fragile 
toys  and  flimsy  ornaments.  With  modern  machinery  and 
methods  this  industry  should  be  capable  of  development 
to  commercial  importance.  Crude  presses  in  many  sections 
produce  bean  and  hemp  oil.  Sheep  and  goat-skins  and 
other  hides  are  shipped  in  large  quantities  to  America  and 
Europe,  especially  France,  but  it  surely  will  be  possible,  in 
the  presence  of  a  plentiful  coal  supply,  abundant  water  power 
and  cheap  labor,  to  handle  this  raw  product  at  home  and 
export  the  manufactured  article.  Cordage,  and  willow  and 
wicker  ware,  now  manufactured  in  crude  fashion  and  for 
local  markets,  give  promise  of  great  expansion,  as  there  is  an 
abundance  of  raw  material  and  efficient  labor.  The  vine- 
yards of  the  Taiyuan  prefecture  already  produce  an  excellent 
quality  of  wine  and  this  industry  is  capable  of  great  growth 
as  it  shall  receive  intelligent  and  adequate  attention.  Other 
possible  lines  of  manufacture  will  readily  occur  to  one  who 
is  acquainted  with  the  raw  products  of  the  province.  We 
have  not  mentioned  flour-milling,  nor  a  score  of  other  indus- 
tries now  carried  on  by  the  Chinese.     After  all,  we  must 


INDUSTRIAL   FUTURE   OF   SHANSI   PROVINCE  271 

hark  back  to  the  question  of  transportation.  Without 
cheap  and  adequate  transportation  none  of  these  industries 
can  be  developed  much  beyond  the  point  demanded  by  the 
necessities  of  the  people  of  Shansi  itself.  With  cheap  and 
adequate  transportation  the  possibihties  stagger  the  imagi- 
nation. 

In  closing  a  word  should  be  said  as  to  the  possibihties  in 
water-power  in  the  mountains  of  the  province.  Numerous 
sparkhng,  spring-fed  brooks  and  rivers  of  good  volume  invite 
the  attention  of  the  expert  in  hydrauhcs  and  suggest  possi- 
bilities of  industrial  development  even  in  districts  where  the 
coal  supply  is  inadequate  or  inconvenient.  This,  in  common, 
with  the  other  possibilities  mentioned  above,  sounds  a 
challenge  to  the  engineer,  native  and  foreign,  whose  spirit 
of  adventure  responds  to  nature's  call  to  unlock  the  doors  of 
her  treasure-houses  and  release  the  pent-up  forces  of  her 
hills  and  valleys. 


SIR  ROBERT  HART  AND  HIS  LIFE  WORK  IN  CHINA 

By  Edward  B.  Drew,  A.M.,  Commissioner  of  Chinese  Imperial 
Maritime  Customs,  retired. 

I  propose  to  set  before  you,  as  best  I  may,  the  life  work 
of  Sir  Robert  Hart — a  career  which  Professor  Williams  of 
Yale  in  his  recent  book  on  the  Burlingame  Mission  pro- 
nounces "the  most  remarkable  and  creditable  of  any  Euro- 
pean, perhaps,  in  Asia  during  the  (nineteenth)  century." 

To  this  China-loving  company  I  would  present  my  late 
chief  as  one  who  served  China  with  a  life-time's  unflagging 
devotedness;  and  to  this  body  of  students  I  offer  his  achieve- 
ments as  a  convincing  example  of  that  wholesome  terrestrial 
kind  of  genius  which  is  said  to  consist  "in  days'  works." 

Robert  Hart  was  born  in  Portadown,  County  Armagh, 
in  the  north  of  Ireland,  on  February  20,  1835.  He  was 
the  oldest  of  twelve  children.  His  father  Henry  Hart  was 
fairly  well  to  do  and  a  stern  Wesleyan;  his  mother,  a  daughter 
of  Mr.  John  Edgar,  was  a  tender  woman  who  ever  held  the 
affections  of  her  children.  Not  long  after  Robert's  birth 
the  family  moved  to  Hillsborough  where  he  attended  his 
first  school,  and  where  the  familj^  home  long  remained.  At 
the  age  of  eleven  he  was  sent  for  a  year  to  a  Wesleyan  school 
in  Taunton,  England;  his  father  taking  him  there  in  person. 
At  Taunton  he  began  the  study  of  Latin;  and  Latin  he 
delighted  in  and  read  to  the  end  of  his  life,  it  being  his  daily 
custom  to  read  some  classic  author  while  taking  his  morning 
tea.  His  next  move  was  to  the  Wesleyan  Connexional 
School  at  Dublin.  Here  he  was  graduated  at  the  top  of  his 
class  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  with  a  reputation  for  love  of  mis- 
chief, as  well  as  for  studiousness  and  a  brilliant  mind.  His 
solicitous  father  elected  to  send  him  to  the  new  Queen's 

272 


SIR  ROBERT  HART   AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  273 

University  at  Belfast,  rather  than  to  Trinity  College,  Dub- 
lin— preferring  to  keep  his  son  near  home  where  he  might 
watch  closely  over  his  conduct  and  where  pious  influences 
should  guard  his  character. 

In  1853,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  young  Hart  received  his 
B.A.  degree.  He  had  also  taken  scholarships  and  medals  in 
literature  and  in  logic,  and  had  won  the  distinction  of  Senior 
Scholar.  It  was  in  this  part  of  his  career  that  he  became  a 
favorite  student  of  McCosh,  afterwards  president  of  Prince- 
ton; and  both  Dr.  McCosh  and  Sir  Robert  Hart  ever  re- 
called with  pleasure  their  relations  at  this  period,  if  indeed 
they  did  not  actually  correspond  by  letter  so  long  as  they 
lived. 

Before  determining  his  choice  of  a  profession.  Hart  began 
studying  for  the  master's  degree;  but  while  he  was  thus 
engaged,  an  opportunity  offered  itself  for  competing  for  a 
junior  post  in  the  British  government's  consular  service 
in  China.  He  entered  as  a  candidate;  but  so  distinguished 
had  been  his  university  career  that  he  was  given  the  appoint- 
ment at  once  without  examination.  He  arrived  in  China  in 
1854,  and  continued  for  five  years  in  the  British  consular 
service,  gradually  acquiring  the  Chinese  language  while 
serving  at  Hongkong,  Ningpo  and  Canton,  and  becoming 
familiar  with  both  the  British  and  Chinese  side  of  interna- 
tional relations. 

His  early  official  experience  was  gained  from  the  British 
governor  of  Hongkong,  Sir  John  Bowring  (well  known  by  his 
noble  hymns)  and  under  such  able  consuls  as  Alcock,  Thomas 
Taylor  Meadows,  and  Parkes.  For  most  of  this  period 
Hart's  post  was  at  Ningpo — near  enough  to  the  scene  of 
the  momentous  events  then  enacting  in  China  to  excite  the 
intensest  interest  of  an  observant,  thoughtful  and  ambitious 
young  man.  The  Taiping  rebellion  was  in  full  career;  the 
rebel  leader  had  already  been  established  at  Nanking  as  his 
capital  for  a  full  year  when  Hart  reached  China;  and  frun 
Ningpo  he  could  observe  the  Taiping  expeditions  against 
Peking.  In  the  study  of  these  stirring  times  ho  must  have 
found  a  stimulating  example  in  his  senior.  Consul  Mcuidows, 
who  sympathised  with  the  Taipings  and  in  1856  produced 


274  EDWARD    B.    DREW 

that  still  famous  book  The  Chinese  and  their  Rebellions. 
The  period  of  his  residence  at  Ningpo  also  covered  for  the 
most  part  the  events  at  the  neighboring  treaty  port,  not 
200  miles  away,  when  from  1853  to  1855,  the  "Small 
Swords,"  (an  offshoot  of  the  Taipings)  seized  and  held  the 
Chinese  city  of  Shanghai.  There  and  then  were  sown  the 
seeds  destined  to  produce  but  a  few  years  later  the  "foreign" 
customs  service  so-called,  with  Hart  himself  presently  as 
the  chief — the  guiding  hand  and  the  farseeing  eye.  At 
this  period,  too,  occurred  the  Lorcha  "Arrow"  incident 
at  Canton,  followed  by  the  quarrel  between  China  and 
Britain,  which  developed  in  1857-58  into  the  Lord  Elgin 
mission,  the  seizure  of  Canton,  the  naval  expedition  to  Tient- 
sin, and  the  great  treaties  of  Tientsin  of  June,  1858.  When 
Canton  was  taken  by  the  British  and  French  on  New  Year's 
day  1858,  and  the  foreign  allied  commission  was  created  to 
govern  it,  Hart  was  transferred  from  Ningpo,  and  made 
secretary  to  this  commission.  This  gave  him  a  new  kind  of 
training,  and  a  rare  opportunity  to  gain  experience  of  Chinese 
life  and  thought  and  the  principles  of  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment. His  efficiency  and  promise  at  this  time  is  exemplified 
by  his  memorandum  (cited  by  Morse  in  International  Rela- 
tions^), written  early  in  1859,  while  he  was  still  interpreter 
to  the  British  consulate  at  Canton,  warning  his  chief,  the 
British  minister,  Mr.  Bruce,  of  the  hostile  preparations 
which  the  Chinese  were  then  making  to  resist  the  expected 
British  visit  to  Peking  to  exchange  the  ratifications  of  the 
treaty  of  the  year  before.  Morse  gives  the  details  of  this 
document,  pronouncing  it  perhaps  the  most  accurate  fore- 
cast of  the  disastrous  repulse  of  the  British  at  the  Taku  forts 
which  followed  in  June  (1859). 

We  have  now  reached  the  moment  when  Hart  was  about 
to  enter  upon  what  was  to  become  the  career  of  a  long, 
devoted,  and  indefatigable  life —  as  the  builder  and  director 
of  one  of  the  most  efficient  administrative  organisms,  and 
perhaps  altogether  the  most  unique  and  peculiar — known  to 
history.     What  he  had  gained,  up  to  this  time,  was  an  equip- 

^  The  International  Relations  of  the  Chinese  Empire  by  Hosea  Ballou  Morse, 
Longmans  Green  and  Company,  1910,  p.  575. 


SIR   ROBERT   HART  AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  275 

ment  of  varied  China  knowledge,  office  experience  and  official 
caution;  what  he  had  always  possessed  was  unusual  intellec- 
tual gifts,  a  fine  memory,  and  a  rare  power  of  concentration. 
He  had  learned  by  competition  with  others  that  his  abilities 
were  considerable  and  that  his  acquired  knowledge  and  pow- 
ers of  observation  were  exceptional.  In  manner  he  was  shy, 
unobtrusive,  almost  unsocial  among  strangers.  He  lacked 
the  bearing  of  the  self-confident  leader;  yet  he  surely  knew 
that  he  had  more  "brains"  than  most  men,  and  need  not 
distrust  his  powers.  He  had  ambition,  and,  I  doubt  not, 
he  had  fully  resolved  within  his  own  breast  even  now  when 
only  twenty-four  that  he  could  and  would  make  a  great  career. 

The  most  definite  accounts  of  the  beginnings  of  the  Chi- 
nese foreign  customs  service  are  those  given  by  Morse  in  his 
Trade  and  Administration  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  chapter 
xii,  and  by  Hart  himself  in  a  memorandum  written  in  1864, 
which  is  to  be  found  in  the  British  China  Blue  Book  of  1865. 

In  the  fifties  of  the  last  century  the  European  and  Amer- 
ican trade  and  shipping  in  China  were  restricted  by  the 
government  of  that  country,  theoretically  though  not  alto- 
gether in  fact,  to  five  cities  on  or  near  the  coast.  One  of 
these  "open  ports"  or  "treaty  ports"  so  called,  was  Canton, 
another  was  Shanghai — and  there  were  three  minor  places, 
Ningpo,  Foochow,  and  Amoy.  Here,  naturally,  were 
Chinese  custom  houses,  managed  by  native  officials  com- 
missioned from  Peking,  who  were  aided  by  staffs  of  Chinese 
clerks,  interpreters,  duty  calculators,  goods  examiners, 
watchmen,  etc.  Nominally  the  tariff  rates  were  identical 
at  all  these  places,  for  there  existed  a  published  tariff  (on 
imports  and  on  exports  also);  and  nominally  the  methods 
of  doing  custom  house  business  were  identical  in  details  at 
all  the  open  ports.  In  practice,  however,  there  was  infinite 
variety,  laxity,  caprice  and  even  corruption.  Bribery  or 
bullying  of  the  Chinese  customs  officials  was  pretty  common 
among  the  foreign  merchants.  These  conditions  made  it 
impossible  for  the  would-be  honorable  importer  or  exporter 
to  compete  with  his  less  scrupulous  rivals  in  trade  without 
stooping  to  malpractices  which  he  despised.  This  state  of 
things,  for  which  I  find  the  nearest  parallel  of  our  own 


276  EDWARD   B.    DREW 

phice  and  day  in  our  dishonest  system  of  taxation,  is  well 
depiotod  in  Plart's  memorandum  of  1864  cited  abov^e.  I 
remember  tliat  a  reputable  English  merchant  once  described 
to  me  how  in  those  lax  times  he  had  contrived,  by  means  of 
bribes  shrewdly  distributed,  to  clear  without  charges  a  ship 
laden  full  of  dutiable  tea — reporting  her  at  the  customs  as 
departing  in  ballast!  Many  did  this — must  do  it;  though  the 
foregoing  case  was  an  extreme  one.  Thus  the  customs  offi- 
cers got  rich ;  while  their  government  received  far  less  revenue 
than  it  was  entitled  to.  The  demoralization  was  general,  and 
the  government  seemed  helpless  to  correct  it. 

Now  happened  a  sudden,  rather  trivial,  event  at  a  single 
Chinese  port,  which  was  destined  within  half  a  dozen  years 
to  bring  about  a  reform  hitherto  undreamt  of,  and  to  produce 
momentous  and  far-reaching  consequences. 

The  Taiping  rebellion  was  in  full  career  in  central  China, 
though  it  had  not  reached  Shanghai.  But  one  morning  in 
1853,  a  secret  sect  of  malcontents  called  the  "Small  Swords" 
surprised  and  captured  the  walled  native  town  of  Shanghai. 
The  custom  house  naturally  fell  into  their  hands;  where- 
upon the  collector,  called  the  Taotai,  took  refuge  with  his 
staff  and  underlings  outside  the  city  in  the  suburb  specially 
occupied  by  the  European  and  American  merchants,  con- 
suls and  traders.  No  recognition  or  sympathy  was  accorded 
to  the  "Small  Swords,"  nor  were  they  permitted  to  enter 
the  European  settlement.  It  was  then  agreed  between  the 
consuls  and  the  dispossessed  Taotai  that  trade  should  not 
stop,  nor  should  customs  duties  cease  to  be  collected. 

In  order  to  check  the  tendency  towards  collapse  of  the 
customs  functions,  and  to  safeguard  the  Chinese  revenue, 
for  which  indeed  the  consuls  felt  themselves  in  a  degree 
responsible — it  seemed  best  that  the  Taotai  should  be  sus- 
tained and  reinforced  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  by  a  few 
foreigners  of  good  standing,  to  be  called  inspectors  and  paid 
by  him.  Thus  was  born  the  foreign  Inspectorate  of  customs 
■ — at  Shanghai,  in  June,  1854.  One  of  the  first  inspectors 
was  Captain  Wade,  well  known  twenty  years  after  as  Sir 
Thomas  Wade,  the  British  minister.  Within  about  a  year 
Wade  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  H.  N.  Lay,  till  then  a  British 


SIR  ROBERT  HART  AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  277 

consular  official.  From  1855  Mr.  Lay  directed  and  developed 
the  new  organization  for  several  years.  Hart  was  yet  to 
come.  The  foreign  inspectorate,  be  it  noted,  was  first  estab- 
lished at  Shanghai  alone — not  elsewhere.  There  it  intro- 
duced a  general  reform  of  customs  procedure.  All  the  mer- 
chants were  compelled  to  pay  duty  strictly  according  to 
tariff;  and  while  some  of  them  would  have  preferred  the  old 
game  of  risk  and  fraud,  it  was  evident  that  with  the  new  or- 
ganization lay  the  path  of  honesty  and  self-respect.  At  the 
same  time  the  Chinese  government  for  their  part  began  to 
get  a  sure  and  steadily  increasing  revenue,  with  the  foreign- 
ers' qualities  of  organization,  vigilance,  and  probity  in  con- 
trol. The  result  was  that  towards  the  close  of  1858,  when 
the  new  and  permanent  commercial  treaties  were  adopted 
under  the  lead  of  Lord  Elgin,  it  was  in  set  terms  stipulated 
that  the  Chinese  government  might  appoint  of  their  own 
independent  choice  any  foreigners  (European  or  American) 
whom  they  wished,  to  assist  them  in  the  collection  of  their 
revenue,  and  that  the  new  system — the  foreign  inspectorate 
— should  be  extended  beyond  Shanghai  and  made  uniform 
at  all  the  treaty  ports.  Laurence  Ohphant,  Lord  Elgin's 
private  secretary,  in  his  delightful  book  Lord  Elgin's  Mis- 
sion,^ justly  anticipated  that  this  stipulation  might  prove 
the  most  important  of  the  new  trade  regulations.  A  few 
months  after,  viz.,  late  in  the  spring  of  1859,  came  the  first 
step  towards  extension  of  the  Shanghai  system.  The  fam- 
ous and  ancient  customs  port  of  Canton  was  to  receive  a 
semi-foreign  administration  on  the  Shanghai  model;  and  the 
Chinese  viceroy  there,  who  knew  young  Hart  favorably  as 
the  interpreter  in  the  British  consulate,  invited  him  to  initi- 
ate the  service.  Thereupon,  the  British  government's  con- 
sent have  been  obtained.  Hart  resigned  the  consular  service 
and  accepted  the  post  of  deputy  commissioner  (in  America 
termed  collector)  in  the  Chinese  imperial  maritime  customs 
at  Canton — a  Chinese  office,  under  Chinese  control  repre- 
sented by  Mr.  Lay  as  the  chief;  and  from  that  time  till  the 
day  of  his  death  in  London  in  1910 — a  period  of  fifty-one 

*  Lord  Elgin's  Mission  lo  China  and  Japan,  by  Laurence  Oliphant,  Harper, 
1860,  p.  484. 


27S  EDWARD    B.    DREW 

years — Robert  Hart  remained  the  devoted  and  loyal  em- 
ployee of  the  government  of  China.  It  is  interesting  to 
recall  here  what  Miss  Juliet  Bredon  points  out  in  her  book 
The  Romance  of  a  Great  Career  (written  wliile  its  subject  was 
still  living) :  In  accepting  his  resignation  from  the  consular 
service  in  1859  tiie  British  government  cautioned  young  Hart 
that  should  he  once  leave  its  employ  it  would  be  vain  for 
him  to  petition  to  reenter  it,  if  he  should  subsequently  desire 
to  do  so.  Twenty-six  years  later  the  position  was  reversed 
when  that  government  of  its  own  accord  ofTered  to  Sir 
Robert  Hart  the  post  of  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  at  Peking! 

In  May,  1861,  Air.  Lay  went  to  England  on  leave  of  ab- 
sence, and  Hart  was  promoted  to  fill  his  place  as  acting  inspec- 
tor general.  Mr.  Fitzroy,  the  commissioner  of  customs  at 
Shanghai,  was  to  act  conjointly  with  Hart,  but  as  he  was 
unacquainted  with  the  Chinese  language,  the  leadership 
fell  inevitably  into  Hart's  hands.  The  first  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  open  customs  offices  according  to  the  new  model  at 
those  other  treaty  ports  in  which  the  old  purely  Chinese 
system  had  hitherto  remained  unchanged.  Canton  had 
been  reformed  in  1859,  as  I  have  already  said;  and  in  1860 
the  new  form  of  office  had  been  opened  also  at  Swatow — 
the  only  one  that  year.  ^Meanwhile  the  allies  (British  and 
French)  were  invading  north  China,  taking  Peking,  and  com- 
pleting by  a  supplementary  treaty  there  the  re-adjustment 
of  their  relations  with  China,  which  they  mistakenly  sup- 
posed they  had  finally  accomplished  two  years  before. 
After  1860  a  long  peace  ensued  with  improved  mutual  under- 
standing. The  foreign  legations  now  established  at  the 
capital  began  by  turning  over  a  new  leaf  and  taking  a  concili- 
atory, sympathetic,  helpful,  friendly  attitude  towards  the 
Chinese  government.  The  ministers,  Bruce  and  Burlingame, 
maintained  this  policy  with  all  their  influence.  China  had 
had  castigation  enough;  let  her  now  practice  the  new  lesson; 
grant  her  time  to  recuperate  and  patiently  help  her  to  accept 
and  get  used  to  the  new  conditions — to  recover  from  the  vio- 
lent wrench  away  from  many  time  honored  but  evil  traditions 
and  methods  to  which  she  had  been  so  harshly  subjected. 


SIR  ROBERT  HART  AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  279 

It  was  to  be  an  era  of  good  feeling,  of  leading,  of  hope,  of 
economic  revival.  Now  France  and  Britain  even  aided  the 
imperial  government  in  suppressing  the  Taipings  in  the 
region  of  Shanghai,  Soochow  and  Nanking;  and  most  justly 
too,  for  the  "coolie  Kings"  had  sunk  to  the  level  of  bandits 
and  plunderers,  and  had  quite  forfeited  the  first  expectations 
of  a  pure  and  honest  regime  for  the  peasantry  of  the  Middle 
Kingdom.  With  Ward  and  Gordon  as  their  lieutenants,  and 
enjojdng  too  the  open  sympathy  of  the  British  and  French 
commanders  in  China,  the  leaders  of  the  imperialist  armies, 
Tseng  and  Li,  restored  the  authority  of  the  government 
between  1861  and  1863;  and  the  great  rebellion  ended  in 
July,  1864,  with  the  recovery  of  Nanking,  the  Taipings'  last 
stronghold.  Hart  fully  shared  the  aims  of  all  these  leaders; 
he  cooperated  with  them  in  the  purpose  of  a  pacific  and  pa- 
tient re-construction;  he  aided  actively  in  persuading  Gordon 
to  take  the  field  again  after  he  had  withdrawn  in  disgust 
when  the  rebel  chiefs  were  executed  at  Soochow;  and  most 
of  all  he  threw  himself  earnestly  into  his  own  special  task 
of  creating  in  the  mixed  (foreign  and  Chinese)  service  now  to 
be  developed  an  institution  which  China  should  perceive 
made  for  stability  of  government,  encouragement  of  trade, 
increase  of  financial  resources,  and  good  will  between  native 
and  foreigner.  Early  in  1861  the  new  customs  institutions 
were  opened  at  Chinkiang,  Ningpo  and  Tientsin.  The  same 
year  Hart  opened  offices  at  Foochow,  and  also  at  Hankow 
and  Kiukiang  on  the  Yangtsze.  In  1862  he  opened  Amoy; 
in  1863  Chefoo  and  two  ports  in  Formosa,  and  lastly  New- 
chwang  (in  Manchuria)  in  1864.  The  tale  of  open  treaty 
ports  for  foreign  trade  was  now  complete,  with  a  custom 
house  of  cosmopolitan  personnel  in  Chinese  pay  at  each 
place.  What  was  done  in  these  formative  years  was  Hart's 
work.  Lay  was  absent  from  China  between  May,  1861  and 
May,  1863;  and  when  he  returned  he  remained  only  a  few 
months.  He  was  dismissed  in  November  in  consequence  of 
the  Lay-Osborn  fleet  dispute.  He  represented  a  dictatorial 
era  which  had  expired,  and  even  his  own  legation  did  not 
regret  his  departure. 

With  his  head  office  established  in  Peking,  Hart  threw 


280  EDWARD    B.    DREW 

himself  unsparingly  into  the  task  of  developing  and  perfect- 
ing the  service  but  recently  planted  at  the  14  ports  of  trade. 
He  set  himself  to  improving  on  the  personnel  engaged  at  the 
outset,  educating  all  concerned  to  a  better  knowledge  of 
their  work,  raising  the  general  morale,  and  unifying  the 
methods  of  procedure  at  the  custom  houses.  The  foreigners 
(by  which  tenn  is  meant  Europeans  and  Americans)  first 
employed  had  in  some  instances  been  emergency  men  picked 
up  locally  haphazard;  some  were  even  adventurers;  some 
were  too  old  to  learn  new  duties,  and  to  acquire  the  Chinese 
language;  and  a  few  were  inferior  socially  and  in  education 
to  the  other  foreigners  about  them  occupied  in  commerce  or 
in  official  life.  A  service  thus  partly  manned  with  inferior 
material  was  regarded  with  disdain  by  the  public,  and  Hart 
at  once  took  steps  to  change  all  this.  He  sent  to  Europe 
and  to  America  and  secured  young  men  of  good  birth  and 
university  education;  these  men  he  trained;  he  required  them 
to  learn  Chinese;  and  he  exacted  absolute  accuracy  and 
efficiency  in  their  office  routine.  Men  who  satisfied  him 
he  advanced  rapidly  in  those  early  days,  so  that  w^ithin 
half  a  dozen  years  the  customs  employees  rose  to  a  footing  of 
social  equality — or  even  better — with  the  men  about  them. 
At  the  same  time  Hart  was  unfailingly  considerate  in  his 
treatment  of  deserving  emploj^ees  who  could  not  attain  to 
his  standard  for  the  highest  posts.  None  were  discharged 
because  they  were  old;  and  to  those  of  mediocre  capacity 
were  assigned  posts  where  the  work  was  what  they  were 
competent  to  do. 

The  service  was  cosmopolitan ;  its  strength  lay  partly  in 
the  fact  that  subjects  of  all  the  great  powers  were  distributed 
through  every  grade.  For  example,  in  the  custom  house  at 
Foochow,  when  under  my  charge  some  years  ago,  the  com- 
missioner was  American,  his  senior  deputy  was  French, 
and  in  the  successive  junior  ranks  were  Germans,  Scandina- 
vians, British  and  Japanese.  Of  course,  in  every  office  by 
far  the  largest  number  of  employees  were  Chinese.  The 
official  languages  were  English  and  Chinese ;  in  a  few  depart- 
ments only  one  of  these,  while  in  most  departments,  e.g., 
duty  accounts  and  returns,  statistics,  expenditures,  published 


SIR   ROBERT   HART   AND    HIS    LIFE    WORK  281 

reports  on  the  trade,  correspondence,  etc.,  both  EngHsh  and 
Chinese  were  used.  There  was  no  fixed  proportion  of  em- 
ployees determined  for  each  nationahty,  but  the  patronage 
was  based  roughly  on  each  country's  commercial  interest 
in  the  China  trade.  Britain  had  the  largest  share;  America, 
Germany  and  France  came  next;  and  the  service  contained 
a  lesser  number  of  Danes,  Italians,  Japanese,  Russians, 
etc.  In  the  highest  appointments,  called  commissionerships, 
and  deputy  commissionerships,  of  which  there  were  in  the  six- 
ties some  20  and  12  respectively,  nearly  all  these  national- 
ities were  represented, — though  not  in  equal  proportion;  in 
1907  when  the  number  of  commissioners  and  deputy  commis- 
sioners had  risen,  with  the  increased  number  of  treaty  or 
open  ports,  to  so  many  as  37  and  25  respectively  these  posts 
were  thus  distributed,  viz.,  Of  the  62  commissioners  and 
deputy  commissioners,  37  were  British,  5  were  American,  5 
were  French,  5  were  German,  3  were  Russian,  1  was  Danish, 

1  was  Japanese,  1  was  Italian,  1  was  Dutch,  1  was  Belgian,  and 

2  were  Norwegian. 

Hart  never  lost  sight  of  the  practical  fact  that  the  service 
must  be  cosmopolitan,  and  that  there  could  be  no  favoritism 
as  towards  one  nation  or  another.  He  was  obliged  to  satisfy 
the  Chinese  foreign  office — whose  authority  was  the  only 
superior  he  must  recognize — that  his  selection  of  men,  and 
distribution  of  appointments  were  just  and  could  withstand 
the  possible  complaint  or  displeasure  of  each  and  every 
Legation.  The  Chinese  foreign  office  gave  Hart  absolute 
control  of  the  service;  he  would  brook  no  interference  with 
his  power  and  responsibility.  The  foreign  ministers  some- 
times tried  to  interfere,  or  sometimes  complained;  certainly 
this  happened  in  an  exasperating  form  in  the  early  years  of 
Hart's  career,  before  his  prestige  had  been  established — when 
it  was  hard  for  him  to  maintain  his  ground.  But  as  time 
went  on  his  confidence  and  authority  grew  greater;  and  while 
he  had  always  to  be  circumspect  and  to  have  sound  reasons 
for  his  selections  and  promotions,  he  took  his  own  way  and 
the  foreign  ministers  preferred  to  leave  these  things  to  liis 
fairness  and  judgment.  It  is  true  to  say  that  in  his  official 
acts,  and  from  his  official  viewpoint  Hart  was  first  and  fore- 


2S2  EDWARD   B.    DREW 

most  a  Chinese  official,  second  cosmopolitan,  and  never 
partial  towards  his  own  nationality.  Nor  do  I  think  that 
with  the  vast  patronage  which  he  exercised — was  compelled 
to  exercise^— for  nearly  fifty  years,  he  was  ever  influenced 
against,  or  in  favor  of  a  man  by  prejudice  due  to  nationality. 

The  organizing  work  done  by  Hart  in  the  decades  of  the 
sixties  and  seventies  was  as  immense  in  amount  and  impor- 
tance as  it  was  varied  in  nature.  And  then,  as  subsequently, 
he  did  most  of  it  himself  alone.  Before  1864,  i.e.,  while  he 
was  instituting  the  offices  from  Canton  in  the  south  to  New- 
chwang  in  the  north,  he  visited  in  person  the  places  concerned, 
became  acquainted  with  his  men — chiefs  and  juniors — and 
arranged  matters  by  personal  interviews  with  the  local  Chi- 
nese officials.  These  officials  naturally  had  but  a  dim  com- 
prehension of  his  purposes,  or  of  their  correct  relation  to 
the  new  "foreign"  customs,  as  they  termed  it;  while  they 
were  amply  equipped  with  anti-foreign  distrust,  far  from 
unwarranted."  Hart  had  to  meet  and  overcome  this  feeling, 
as  best  he  might;  and  he  had  also  to  impress  upon  his  Euro- 
pean staffs  and  their  native  territorial  colleagues  what  their 
relative  powers,  duties,  and  responsibilities  were,  and  what 
mutual  relations  they  would  be  expected  to  cultivate. 
Indeed,  he  had  to  depend  on  his  own  thinking  and  foreseeing 
brain  for  his  plans  and  opinions,  and  then  to  teach  subordi- 
nates to  act  accordingly.  Before  him  at  the  outset  was  only 
a  clean  slate — a  new  institution  of  vast  potential  develop- 
ment to  be  reared,  its  future  uncertain  and  himself  alone  the 
architect.  But  he  had  imagination,  confidence,  vision, — • 
and  he  went  forward,  seldom  hesitating  or  looking  back. 

In  1864  he  made  Peking  his  permanent  headquarters, 
directing  and  organising  the  distant  offices  by  correspondence 
from  the  capital,  while  in  close  personal  touch  with  the  Chi- 
nese foreign  office  and  with  the  legations.  The  new  system, 
not  obstructive  to  trade,  but  managed  simply  and  without 
corruption,  brought  in  a  yearly  growing  revenue  which  in 
amount  surprised  as  well  as  rejoiced  the  Peking  exchequer, 
— and  made  the  service  and  its  head  persona  grata  with  the 
central  government,  however  inwardly  ill-disposed  were  the 
native  local  officials  at  the  ports,  whose  time-honored  "rake 


SIR   ROBERT  HART  AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  283 

off"  it  had  strangled.  By  1866,  the  indemnities  for  the  war 
of  1858-60  had  been  paid  off — and  from  the  customs  reven- 
ues; whereupon  the  Chinese  foreign  office  announced  its 
satisfaction  with  the  service  and  its  purpose  to  prolong  it 
indefinitely.  The  tariff  was  very  low — a  basis  of  only  5 
per  cent,  levied  at  specific  rates  both  on  imports  and  exports. 
China  was  precluded  by  the  foreign  powers  from  raising  it; 
indeed  it  has  been  changed  but  little  down  to  this  day.  Yet, 
with  the  increase  which  has  taken  place  in  the  number  of 
open  ports  of  trade,  and  the  natural  growth  of  China's  com- 
merce, the  annual  collection  has  risen  from  8,500,000  taels  in 
1864  to  35,500,000  taels  in  1910.^  This  gain  is  due  in  part 
to  the  addition  of  new  departments  of  customs  collecting 
work  handed  over  to  Hart  from  time  to  time; — indeed  even 
a  part  of  China's  internal  revenue  both  from  opium  and  from 
general  commodities  has  been  entrusted  to  the  foreign  cus- 
toms for  management,  for  several  years.  China  was  never 
niggard  with  the  inspector  general  in  the  grant  of  funds  for 
the  cost  of  collection;  on  the  other  hand  he  rendered  accurate 
quarterly  and  annual  accounts  of  what  was  spent.  The 
government  did  not  criticise  the  rates  Hart  fixed  for  salaries 
and  wages,  nor  the  allowances  he  chose  to  issue  for  rent, 
travel,  leaves  of  absence,  etc.  All  these  things  down  to  the 
wages  of  the  lowest  office  messengers  and  boatmen  were 
determined  absolutely  by  regulations  which  he  himself  made 
— as  one  of  the  many  features  of  his  organization.  A  pro- 
fessional accountant  was  engaged  from  the  treasury  in  Lon- 
don, who  came  to  China,  studied  the  conditions,  drafted  a 
complete  system  of  accounts-keeping  rules,  and  made  a 
tour  of  all  the  ports  instructing  the  commissioners  and 
clerks  in  details,  and  opening  the  books.  The  system  then 
established  continues  in  force — with  but  few  changes — 
today.  Hart  himself,  with  characteristic  sense  of  responsi- 
bility and  capacity  for  detail,  maintained  a  fixed  custom  of 
requiring  the  books  in  which  the  service  general  accounts 
were  summarised  and  kept  up  to  date  in  the  audit  depart- 
ment at  Peking,  to  be  brought  to  him  every  Saturday  for 

*  One  tael  equals  about  66  cents,  United  States  currency,  1910. 


284  EDWARD   B.    DREW 

examination.  It  was  amazing  his  grasp  of  details,  and  the 
time  and  minute  personal  attention  he  freely  gave  to  every 
branch  of  the  service  affairs.  The  undying  tale  that  the 
Chinese  government  gave  him  an  allowance  of  so  much  with 
which  he  was  to  run  the  service — keeping  the  unspent  bal- 
ance for  himself — is  not  true.  He  accounted  for  all  he 
spent,  and  as  for  himself  he  received  a  fixed  salary — probably 
the  same  as  that  of  his  predecessor,  ]\Ir.  Lay,  which  Mr. 
Andrew  Wilson,  author  of  the  Ever  Victorious  Army  tells 
us  was  £8000.  If  this  was  Hart's  salary,  every  penny  of 
it  was  well  earned.  There  never  was  higher  loyalty,  com- 
pleter self  devotion,  or  more  splendid  abiUty  placed  at  the 
service  of  an  employer — or  with  better  results.  As  the 
customs  grew  in  variety  of  functions,  extent  of  field,  amount 
of  collections,  and  number  of  personnel,  Chinese  and  foreign, 
the  annual  grant  from  the  government  for  its  maintenance 
was  increased  at  intervals.  The  story  is  told  that  some 
native  official  once  memorialised  the  government  to  the 
effect  that  the  service  was  costing  too  much  under  Hart's 
regime  and  that  he  himself,  the  memorialist,  would  under- 
take to  carry  it  on  with  a  far  smaller  appropriation.  This 
memorial  was  passed  on  by  the  foreign  office  to  Hart  for  his 
answer.  He  replied  by  declaring,  that  so  far  from  admitting 
that  the  present  grant  was  too  great,  he  must  point  out  that 
it  had  become  too  small,  and  concluded  his  despatch  by 
soliciting  an  increase  of  so  and  so  much  in  the  annual  allow- 
ance! The  result  was  what  he  had  expected:  the  grant  was 
increased ! 

I  have  mentioned  the  thoroughness — reaching  to  all 
details — wdth  which  his  early  organizing  work  was  done. 
One  aim  was  to  create  uniformity  at  all  the  offices.  Calling 
for  lists  of  the  employees  of  every  description  from  every 
port,  he  classified,  ranked,  and  graded  them — fixing  the 
pay  of  each  grade.  Then  was  published  the  first  service 
list,  to  be  followed  yearly  by  a  fresh  list  showing  the  enroll- 
ment, rank,  nationality  and  station  of  every  man — the  series 
affording  a  history  not  merely  of  each  man's  career  but  of 
the  growth  of  the  organization  as  the  years  rolled  by.  A 
system,  a  piece  of  machinery  like  this,  once  instituted  was 


SIR   ROBERT  HART   AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  285 

never  dropped  or  permitted  to  deteriorate  in  quality  or 
accuracy  or  in  the  variety  and  fulness  of  records  it  afforded. 
On  the  other  hand  it  was  modified  and  steadily  improved  as 
circumstances  demanded  changes.  At  present  the  list  is 
issued  in  both  English  and  Chinese.  The  natural  require- 
ments of  a  large  constituency  of  intelligent  merchants  were 
met  by  the  publication  quarterly  of  statistics  of  the  separate 
imports  and  exports  of  trade  at  each  and  all  the  ports,  of  the 
movement  of  treasure,  and  of  shipping.  Annually,  complete 
volumes  of  similar,  but  more  elaborate,  statistics  are  issued, 
— accompanied  by  reports  on  the  trade  of  each  port  written 
by  the  local  commissioners,  and  by  a  general  report  on  the 
trade  of  China  as  a  whole,  drawn  up  by  the  statistical  secre- 
tary. In  point  of  clearness,  completeness  and  typography, 
these  annual  volumes  leave  little  to  be  desired.  They  are 
published  both  in  English  and  in  Chinese, — and  may  be 
found  in  several  of  the  great  libraries  of  our  own  country  as 
well  as  of  Europe.  And,  what  is  more  valuable  to  the  gen- 
eral student,  and  deserves  to  be  known  better  than  it  is 
known.  Hart  caused  to  be  published  at  the  close  of  each 
decade  beginning  with  the  period  1881-1890  a  collective 
volume  of  Decennial  Reports,  embracing  each  port  and  its 
surrounding  district,  prepared  by  the  several  commissioners, 
detailing — according  to  a  systematized  arrangement  drafted 
by  Hart  himself — the  history  and  development  during  the 
decennium,  of  the  port's  industries,  trade,  governmental 
affairs,  productions,  etc.,  and  recording  all  important  events, 
improvements,  and  the  like,  accompanied  by  maps,  and  as 
a  whole  constituting  an  invaluable  record  for  the  student  of 
the  modern  and  modernising  Middle  Kingdom. 

Little  escaped  Hart's  indefatigable  hand — little  that  could 
enhance  the  value  of  the  customs  service  to  China  or  to  the 
public.  Concise  books  of  instructions  in  their  duties  were 
drawn  up  and  distributed  to  the  employees;  instructions  for 
the  commissioners  and  their  assistants,  instructions  for  the 
heads  of  the  outdoor  department,  for  the  examiners  of  goods, 
and  for  the  watchers  of  shipping — all  aiming  to  teach  each 
man  how  to  perform  his  work,  what  he  should  and  what  he 
should  not  do.     These  instructions  improved  the  discipline 


2St)  EDWARD    B.    DREW 

and  efTiciency  of  the  staffs,  and  ensured  a  liberal,  courteous, 
and  helpful  attitude  on  the  part  of  custom  clerks  and  exam- 
iners in  dealing  with  travellers  and  with  the  stationary  com- 
mercial public  who  had  duties  to  pay.  It  was  a  fixed  prin- 
ciple with  Hart — understood  by  everj^  man  in  the  service, 
high  or  low— that  each  employee  ought  to  be  enabled  to  know 
clearly  what  was  expected  of  him;  and,  with  this  known,  men 
must  be  held  strictly  to  doing  it.  Those  who  fell  short  were 
sure  to  hear  of  it  promptly  and  emphatically;  those  who 
did  well,  even  the  humblest,  were  rewarded  with  promotion 
when  the  right  time  and  place  came;  while  such  as  showed 
exceptional  fitness  were  culled  out  and  advanced  to  the  most 
responsible  posts.  A  system  of  semi-annual  confidential 
reports  on  the  personnel  was  instituted  in  1868,  and  always 
maintained;  indeed  Hart  never  revoked  an  ordinance  which 
he  had  once  instituted — he  would  modify  after  trial  and 
experience,  but  he  never  repealed. 

The  service  steadily  grew  larger,  as  international  crises 
arising  from  time  to  time  were  settled  by  the  opening  of 
new  ports  so-called,  i.e.,  new  points  of  trade  and  contact, 
many  of  them  at  interior  or  at  land  frontier  towns.  But 
the  service  was  never  too  big  for  Hart  to  manage.  The 
Chefoo  convention  of  1876  with  Britain,  which  settled  the 
Margary  murder,  provided  for  the  opening  of  Wenchow, 
Pakhoi,  Wuhu,  and  Ichang  (and  of  Chungking  later)  on  the 
Upper  Yangtsze.  The  Tongking  imbroglio  with  France  in 
1884-85  was  followed  by  the  opening  of  Lungchow,  and 
Mengtsz  in  remote  Kwangsi  and  in  Yunnan  on  China's 
southern  frontier.  The  defeat  of  China  by  Japan  in  1895 
led  to  the  opening  of  the  large  cities  of  Soochow  and  Hang- 
chow.  The  war  between  Japan  and  Russia  in  1905  had  for 
one  of  its  results  the  opening  of  Harbin,  Antung,  Mukden, 
etc.,  in  the  three  provinces — still  Chinese — of  Manchuria. 
The  enlargement  of  customs  work  thus  entailed,  of  staffs  and 
correspondence,  and  the  increased  distances  from  Peking, 
were  not  too  formidable  for  Hart's  organization  to  cope  with; 
he  seemed  always  to  have  spare  men  of  all  grades  ready  to 
go  out  and  begin  work  on  the  well  known  lines  at  new 
points.    The  trained  men  required,  he  always  had ;  and  vacant 


SIR   ROBERT   HART   AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  287 

places  at  the  older  ports  were  speedily  replenished  with 
recruits  from  his  waiting  list — a  list  kept  close  at  hand  and 
from  which  he  could  draw  by  a  telegram  to  London.  Here 
was  a  special  agency  of  the  Chinese  customs,  efficiently  and 
loyally  directed  by  Mr.  James  Duncan  Campbell — who  had 
been  in  China  in  the  service,  than  whom  a  more  competent 
man  could  not  have  been  found.  All  candidates  of  what- 
ever nationahty  had  to  pass  Campbell's  tests  and  personal 
scrutiny  before  they  could  obtain  enrollment  as  suitable. 
Similar  care  was  also  taken  in  China  in  selecting  the  large 
number  of  native  recruits  who  filled  the  clerkships.  Thus, 
when  new  demands  arose,  even  suddenly,  the  service  was 
elastic  enough  to  meet  them. 

There  is  one  other  feature  of  the  organization  which  I 
may  not  fail  to  mention — the  practice  of  transferring  clerks, 
assistants,  commissioners,  and  even  examiners  and  inspectors 
(i.e.,  the  "out-door  men")  from  one  port  to  another  every 
few  years.  These  transfers  took  place  in  considerable  num- 
ber each  spring;  so  that  every  man  after  ten  or  fifteen  years 
would  have  served  at  several  ports  in  different  parts  of 
China,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  commissioners  alone, 
would  have  worked  under  a  variety  of  chiefs,  and  in  a  variety 
of  climates.  The  advantages  of  this  practice  were  many. 
It  was  only  fair  to  men  who  had  lived  three  or  four  years  in 
the  enervating  south,  that  they  should  be  given  a  change  to 
the  north,  or  that  men  who  had  endured  the  rather  solitary 
existence  of  a  small  out  of  the  way  place  in  mid-China 
should  be  enabled  to  exchange  the  hardships  of  social  stagna- 
tion for  the  joys  of  a  bustling  community  like  Shanghai  or 
Hankow.  Further,  it  was  just  to  all  under  a  system  by  which 
(as  I  have  said  above)  every  employee's  merits  and  deficien- 
cies were  semi-annually  reported  confidentially  to  the  inspec- 
tor general,  that  the  employee  should  be  reported  upon 
by  a  succession  of  different  chiefs;  so  that  the  inspector 
general  might  form  his  judgment  of  a  man  upon  the  estimates 
of  several  commissioners  and  not  on  the  opinion  of  only  one 
or  two.  The  practice  of  frequent  transfers  increased  the 
men's  experience,  maintained  their  interest  in  their  work, 
and  tended  to  unify  procedure  at  all  the  ports;  while  affording 


288  EDWARD    B.    DREW 

an  easy  path  for  removing  quietly  men  who  could  not  work 
with  certain  colleagues  or  who  were  unsuitable  to  the  local 
community,  lieferring  to  my  own  experience  I  may  say 
that  my  life  in  China  was  far  more  pleasant,  and  my  work 
was  done  with  more  zest,  in  that  I  served  for  three  or  four 
or  five  years,  not  longer,  at  each  of  eight  different  stations — 
from  Peking  to  Canton,  and  from  Shanghai  to  Kiukiang. 
One  feature  of  the  customs  organization  was  the  statistical 
department,  established  at  the  central  port  of  Shanghai. 
This  establishment  combined  the  two  functions  of  (1)  pub- 
lication plus  printing,  and  (2)  the  assembling  and  compilation 
of  trade  statistics  and  reports.  Under  a  chief  possessing 
Hart's  imagination  and  incapable  of  finding  any  kind  of  work 
deary  or  uninviting,  the  statistical  department  was  a  most 
interesting  field — by  no  means  what  our  American  name 
"Government  Printing  Office"  somehow  signifies  to  me.  The 
head  manager,  known  as  the  statistical  secretary,  not 
merely  printed  and  distributed  the  regular  returns  and 
reports  to  the  mercantile  and  official  public;  it  was  one  of 
his  tasks  to  receive  and  inspect  the  ports'  quarterly  official 
statements  of  revenue  collected,  and  of  expenditures.  These 
documents  had  to  be  drawn  up  four-fold  in  both  English 
and  Chinese — a  set  from  each  port — and  were  passed  on  to 
the  Chinese  treasury  and  to  the  foreign  office.  They  were 
elaborate  and  detailed;  and  Hart  would  not  tolerate  the  least 
flaw,  or  error,  untidiness  or  carelessness  of  form  in  the  prep- 
aration of  a  single  one  of  them.  These  documents  if  not 
correct  and  perfect  in  form  were  invariably  returned  swiftly 
to  the  office  of  issue,  to  be  replaced  by  fresh  ones.  Hart 
never  accepted  less  by  a  hair  than  what  he  had  required. 
The  result  was  that  the  Chinese  foreign  office  received  from 
him  nothing  that  was  ill-done;  and  the  Chinese  principle 
is — in  theory  at  least — that  a  careless  report  made  to  a 
superior  office  is  a  breach  of  propriety,  a  want  of  respect. 
The  published  Yellow  Books  from  the  statistical  department 
are  models  of  care,  taste,  completeness  and  good  workman- 
ship; because  Hart  would  accept  nothing  less.  More  than 
this:  he  encouraged  such  of  his  subordinates  as  might  choose 
to  write  monographs  on  China  subjects,  to  do  so,  and  these 


SIR   ROBERT   HART   AND    HIS    LIFE   WORK  289 

if  meritorious  were  published  for  sale  or  for  distribution.  A 
paper  on  Chinese  music,  a  collection  of  Chinese  terms  and 
phrases  gathered  by  some  ambitious  employee  in  a  wide  and 
patient  reading  of  the  native  literature,  or  a  minute  and 
accurate  descriptive  list  of  the  thousand  and  one  articles 
which  comprise  China's  trade :  many  such  useful  works  Hart 
published,  as  a  credit  to  their  authors  and  a  distinction  to 
the  service.  He  also  pubUshed  volumes  of  special  reports, 
for  example,  one  on  silk,  another  on  tea,  others  on  opium, 
etc. ;  or  again  a  collection  of  China's  treaties  giving  all  the 
texts  in  which  they  were  drawn  up,  taken  from  the  official 
copies.  Many  successive  volumes  of  medical  reports  on 
diseases  in  China,  made  semi-annually  by  European  physi- 
cians practising  in  different  parts  of  that  country  were  issued 
by  his  direction.  A  broad  minded  man  he  furthered  every- 
thing of  value  to  China,  which  came  within  the  scope  of  his 
control. 

The  provision  of  aids  to  navigation  such  as  lighthouses, 
lightships,  buoys,  beacons,  etc.,  for  the  benefit  of  China's 
sea,  riverine  and  harbor  shipping  was  early  placed  by  the 
Chinese  government  in  his  hands  with  full  powers.  Engag- 
ing expert  engineers,  and  consulting  the  navigators  them- 
selves familiar  with  the  coast  of  China,  he  first  drew  up  a 
lighthouse  building  program  extending  through  a  series  of 
years.  Only  the  best  illuminating  methods  of  their  time 
were  introduced.  And  to  this  day  the  dangerous  China 
coast  is  so  well  lighted  and  marked  that — as  Hart  once 
expressed  it — ''navigation  has  been  made  as  easy  as  walking 
down  Regent  Street  when  the  gas  is  lit."  He  seemed  to  lose 
sight  of  no  detail  during  the  years  when  this  work  was  being 
done;  among  other  things  insisting  that  wherever  possible 
the  materials  used  on  a  lighthouse,  the  workmen,  and  such 
current  supplies  as  food  and  boats  should  be  those  to  be 
obtained  on  the  spot, — the  aim  being  to  convert  the  naturally 
suspicious,  prejudiced  or  even  hostile  sea-coast  population 
to  a  feeling  of  confidence  and  good  will.  In  1908  when  Sir 
Robert  Hart  left  China,  the  customs  service  was  maintain- 
ing 132  lighthouses  and  lightships,  not  to  mention  many 
buoys  and  beacons  or  the  steamers  required  to  visit,  inspect 


290  EDWARD   B.    DREW 

and  supply  them.  In  these  matters,  as  in  everything  he 
touclicd  Hart  was  thorough,  studying  and  directing  details 
himself,  and  taking  a  deep  interest  of  a  personal  kind  in  all 
that  he  had  to  do.  He  selected  the  lightkeepers,  he  chose 
the  officers  of  the  lightships  and  light-tending  steamers — 
taking  infinite  pains  to  appoint  just  the  men  who  would  be 
contented  with  their  billets  and  would  by  nature  suit  the 
work  best.  On  one  occasion,  for  instance,  on  a  tour  of  the 
light  houses  he  observed  that  a  certain  lightkeeper  had  given 
much  attention  to  breeding  and  keeping  a  variety  of  domes- 
tic animals  for  the  love  of  it,  whereupon  he  transferred  the 
man  to  a  post  on  a  large  island — where  he  might  keep  bigger 
flocks  and  more  poultry  and  teach  the  islanders  how  to  rear 
and  care  for  them. 

Bej'ond  these  varied  activities  which  belonged  to  his 
recognized  duties  and  responsibihties  as  head  of  the  customs 
many  others  of  an  extraneous  kind  were  imposed  upon  him 
and  upon  the  customs  service  by  the  Chinese  government. 
A  commission  of  enquiry  was  sent  to  Cuba  and  Peru  to 
report  on  the  condition  and  treatment  of  Chinese  coolie 
laborers  in  those  countries.  Two  commissioners  of  customs 
accompanied  and  guided  this  mission;  with  the  beneficent 
result  that  the  condition  of  these  wretched  beings  was  per- 
manently alleviated  by  diplomatic  action.  The  work  of 
assembling  Chinese  products  and  manufactures  and  the 
exhibition  of  them  as  the  Chinese  government's  displays  at 
the  successive  world's  fairs,  Vienna  in  1873,  Philadelphia  in 
1876,  Paris  in  1878  and  1900,  Berlin  (fisheries)  in  1880,  and 
New  Orleans  (cotton)  in  1883,  these  tasks  were  assigned  to 
Hart  to  be  managed  by  the  customs  service.  Other  special 
missions  and  frontier  delimitation,  were  also  entrusted  to 
Hart  and  his  subordinates. 

Besides  these  extraordinary  occasions  of  international 
duty  to  be  performed,  there  were  international  gales  to  be 
weathered,  or  opportunities  to  be  improved.  Here  Hart's 
advice  was  sometimes  sought  by  the  Chinese  ministers,  owing 
to  hio  confidential  relations  with  them.  This  was  a  special 
kind  of  service,  quite  outside  the  limits  of  his  office  as 
inspector  general;  and  it  must  have  been  fraught  with  no 


SIR   ROBERT  HART  AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  291 

slight  anxieties  and  perplexities.  It  was  not  Hart's  nature, 
indeed  it  would  have  been  most  unwise,  unasked  to  volunteer 
suggestions  beyond  his  recognised  functions.  But  he  was 
not  infrequently  consulted  in  critical  entanglements;  and 
for  negotiation  he  possessed  taste  and  skill.  One  would  have 
thought  his  regular  work  as  much  as  one  man  could  do — 
especially  with  his  high  standard  of  quality;  but  Hart  aspired 
to  lead  China  into  the  path  of  progress,  to  help  her  in  the 
way  of  safety,  to  shield  her  from  aggression  and  from  the 
perils  of  partition  which  repeatedly  threatened  in  conse- 
quence of  her  blind  conservatism,  or  obstructiveness,  or  weak- 
ness, or  fatuous  blunders.  Early  in  the  sixties  he  was  over- 
joyed by  her  seeming  advance  towards  Occidental  education 
promised  by  the  creation  of  the  Tung  Wen  Kuan  Colleges 
at  Peking  and  at  Canton.  But  through  ill  causes  which  Hart 
could  not  stem,  these  institutions  lapsed  into  discouraging 
stagnation  and  uselessness;  and  yet,  as  I  know  from  my  own 
correspondence  with  him  when  I  was  stationed  at  Canton,  he 
refused  to  accept  my  belief  that  the  college  there  was  beyond 
hope.  As  Mr.  Ku  Hung-ming  declared,  ''The  great  man  is 
always  an  optimist;"  and  Hart  based  his  unconquerable 
hope  for  the  future  of  these  schools  on  the  slender  fact  that 
they  had  indeed  turned  out  in  three  decades  two  or  three 
able  men  whom  he  was  proud  to  name.  He  lived  on  the 
tiptoe  of  expectation  that  some  miracle  would  occur  or  some 
heaven-sent  prophet  would  arise  to  fling  wide  the  doors  of 
reform.  He  was  delighted  in  1866  with  the  appointment 
of  the  humble  secretary  of  the  foreign  office,  Mr.  Pin,  to  ac- 
company him  as  a  semi-official  envoy  to  Europe;  he  hoped  that 
even  this  might  be  the  ''dawn,"  though  indeed  it  was  not 
much  "like  thunder."  The  times  were  not  ripe  for  China's 
awakening,  but  this  event — come  when  it  might — could 
never  have  surprised  him;  and  for  my  part  I  would  fain  have 
witnessed  his  content  when  at  last  after  the  Boxer  fanaticism 
came  the  deep  and  sincere  reaction,  the  popular  regeneration 
in  favor  of  modern  education,  followed — after  the  Russo- 
Japanese  war — by  genuine  reforms  in  government,  police, 
military  affairs,  the  press,  and  opium  abolition,  in  a  word  a 
new  national  birth. 


292  EDWARD   B.    DREW 

I  well  ivcull,  f(>r  I  witnessed  it,  the  joyous  hope  which 
aniinafod  liiin,  wlien  tlio  Rurlinj^jaine  mission  was  sent  forth 
in  18G8;  nor  indeed  was  that  enterprise  without  lasting  advan- 
tage for  hard-pressed  China.  She  needed  time,  sympathy 
and  consideration  from  western  powers — and  this  respite 
from  relentless  pressure  Anson  Burlingame  gained  for  her 
in  luu'ope,  while  Hart  then  and  later  clung  to  the  same  policy 
in  Peking. 

History,  I  think,  will  give  to  him  a  share  of  the  credit  for 
pre\'enting  war  with  Britain  in  1876,  after  the  Margary 
murder,  at  the  very  last  moment — when  hostilities  seemed 
inevitable;  and  nine  years  later  it  was  his  resourcefulness,  his 
boldness,  his  unfaltering  perseverance,  even  his  ingenuity, 
that  brought  to  an  abrupt  and  surprising  end  the  wearisome 
and  exhausting  hostilities  of  1884-85  known  as  the  Tongking 
imbroglio.  The  tale  is  a  dramatic  one,  but  it  is  too  long  and 
the  plot  is  too  complex  to  be  related  here.  The  seizure  by 
the  French  admiral  of  the  little  steamer  Feihoo  of  the 
Chinese  customs  was  Hart's  opportunity.  Miss  Bredon 
tells  the  story,  thought  too  superficially;  but  Hart  was  still 
living  when  her  book  appeared.  Through  the  French  min- 
ister Hart  tried  to  get  the  steamer  released.  The  minister 
was  lukewarm;  only  the  admiral  could  return  the  steamer — 
better  apply  in  Paris.  Then  the  drama  secretly  developed. 
Hart  had  caught  from  M.  Patenotre  and  Admiral  Courbet 
an  extremelj^  slender  thread.  But  it  was  Ariadne's  thread 
— he  seized  it  silently,  instantly,  and  in  a  few  months  he  led 
both  China  and  France  out  of  a  labyrinth  from  which  they 
longed  (France  no  less  than  China)  to  be  freed — yet  within 
whose  intricacies  both  had  become  hopelessly  lost.  To  Paris 
he  sent  the  customs'  London  secretary,  the  cautious  loyal 
Campbell,  who  had  much  shrewdness  of  his  own  and  pos- 
sessed an  abounding  faith  in  Hart.  Secretly  Campbell 
applied  to  Monsieur  Ferry  for  the  rendition  of  the  insignifi- 
cant little  steamer — and  presently  he  drew  from  his  pocket 
no  less  mysteriously  some  telegrams  from  his  Peking  chief 
— proposing  terms  for  a  protocol  of  peace.  Ferry  trusted 
them — he  knew  the  reputation  of  Sir  Robert  Hart  and  the 
influence  he  wielded  at  the  Chinese  court.     Hart  was  act- 


SIR   ROBERT   HART   AND    HIS    LIFE    WORK  293 

ing  with  the  support  of  the  foreign  office.  Ferry  accepted 
the  terms,  but  before  they  were  formally  signed  came  a 
sudden  Chinese  success  in  arms  at  Langson.  This  threw 
things  once  more  into  confusion;  Ferry's  ministry  fell  in  a 
tumult;  "France  must  reinforce,  continue  the  war,  and 
recover  her  prestige,"  cried  everybody;  while  the  war  party 
in  China  again  grew  aggressive  and  confident.  Hart's 
unsuspected  negotiations  hung  trembling  in  the  balance. 
There  was  a  brief  interval  of  anxiety,  but  for  him  never 
despair.  Presently,  he  triumphed;  the  peace  protocol  was 
signed.  France  had  receded  from  her  demand  for  an  indem- 
nity, the  chief  point  worth  China's  fighting;  while  China 
dropped  her  claim — morally  just  (though  shadowy  to  all 
practical  purposes) — to  the  suzerainty  of  Tonking.  This  one 
achievement  was  worth  to  China  many  times  what  Hart  and 
his  liberally  endowed  customs  service — had  they  done  noth- 
ing else — ever  cost  her.  As  a  spice  of  personal  revenge  on 
the  French  minister  and  admiral  for  their  cavalier  pettiness 
in  this  Feihoo  matter — it  must  have  been  sweet  to  the 
inspector  general,  while  it  was  free  of  vindictiveness  and  did 
a  great  service  to  both  countries.  The  minister  knew  noth- 
ing of  what  was  going  on  till  he  was  startled  by  the  news 
that  peace  had  been  signed  by  Mr.  Campbell  and  a  French 
official  in  Paris!'* 

The  year  1885  was  one  of  the  most  momentous  and  most 
glorious  of  Hart's  career.  While  the  French  negotiation 
filled  his  thoughts,  he  was  startled  by  a  telegram  from  the 
foreign  office  in  London  tendering  him  the  appointment  of 
British  minister.  It  came  from  the  Liberal  Granville  cabi- 
net; and  when,  immediately  after,  the  Conservatives  came  in 
into  power,  the  offer  was  renewed  by  Lord  Salisbury.  To 
the  public  it  seemed  inexplicable  that  the  British  govern- 
ment should  choose  as  the  guardian  of  its  interests  a  man  who 
had  become  the  exponent  of  the  Chinese  view  of  political 
questions  at  Peking.     But  there  are  some  who  declare  that 

*  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  in  her  attractive  book  already  referred  to 
Miss  Bredon  should  have  permitted  herself  to  put  an  insulting  slur  upon  the 
memory  and  the  services  of  Mr.  Campbell  in  her  account  of  this  dramatic 
negotiation.  Sir  Robert  Hart  himself  would  have  been  the  very  last  to 
countenance  an  act  of  this  kind. 


294  EDWARD   B.    DREW 

the  British  gcn'orninont's  "cnoral  instructions  to  its  ministers 
— perliaps  from  about  this  time — used  to  contain  for  their 
final  injunction  the  advice, — "Wlien  in  doubt,  consult  Sir 
Robert  Hart." 

At  first  Hart  accepted  tlie  appointment;  it  must  have 
seemed  to  him  to  promise  a  fine  culmination  of  his  career, 
the  summit  of  his  ambition.  But  after  a  few  weeks  he  deter- 
mined to  decline  the  proffered  honor,  and  to  remain  as  he 
had  so  long  been,  the  inspector  general  or  "I.  G." — the  head 
of  the  imperial  customs.  Exactly  why  he  chose  this  course 
I  can  onh^  conjecture.  He  may  have  foreseen  his  liability 
to  be  forced  into  an  attitude  of  hostility  towards  the  Chinese 
government,  whom  he  had  so  long  sympathetically  served. 
Perhaps  he  apprehended  the  possible  coldness  or  unfriendli- 
ness of  the  British  consuls,  whom  he  would  have  to  direct 
and  on  whose  assistance  he  must  depend.  But  I  do  not 
believe  that  these  were  the  reasons  which  determined  his 
decision.  I  think  he  shrunk  from  abandoning  a  post  for 
which  he  knew  he  was  well  fitted — from  ceasing  his  efforts  to 
lead  and  help  China  as  her  employee  and  adviser;  and  further 
that  he  could  not  endure  to  see  the  great  service  which  he 
had  so  industriously  built  up  out  of  his  own  brain,  and  with 
such  unremitting  toil,  devotion  and  hope,  fall  into  hands 
perhaps  less  devoted  and  less  capable  than  his  own.  At  all 
events  the  announcement  that  he  had  decided  to  continue 
to  be  their  inspector  general,  was  welcomed  enthusiastically 
by  the  customs  men  everywhere.  An  address  of  congratula- 
tion was  presented  to  him  by  the  service. 

There  yet  lay  before  him  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century 
which  Hart  was  destined  still  to  devote  to  China.  The  first 
great  measure  to  demand  his  attention  was  the  transference 
of  the  collection  of  the  internal  revenue  tax  (or  ''Likin") 
on  opium  from  the  native  inland  collectorates  to  the  foreign 
customs  offices.  It  was  purely  an  administrative  customs 
business,  but  the  problem  was  intricate,  the  revenue  at 
stake  amounted  to  millions,  and  the  change  must  be  made  at 
all  places  on  the  same  fixed  daj^,  close  at  hand.  A  single 
error  in  the  instructions  given  to  the  customs  offices  might 
entail   troublesome   complaints  from   Chinese  officials,   or 


SIR   ROBERT   HART   AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  295 

outcry  and  ''claims"  from  opium  importers;  it  might  pro- 
duce irremediable  confusion.  Here  was  precisely  the  kind 
of  operation  that  the  inspector  general  delighted  to  under- 
take. The  procedure  was  complicated;  the  readjustment 
radical.  Of  the  opium  affected  the  new  customs  treatment 
had  to  be  differentiated  according  to  the  precise  stage  of 
taxation  which  each  several  lot  had  reached  on  the  crucial 
day.  At  the  same  time  a  fresh  system  had  to  be  devised  and 
set  in  motion,  which  should  be  applied  in  future  to  all  opium 
arriving.  Written  instructions — there  was  barely  time  to 
circulate  them  to  the  ports  before  they  must  be  acted  on. 
But  like  all  Hart's  directions  these  were  orderly,  clear, 
precise;  by  telegraph  from  Peking  he  dealt  no  less  promptly 
and  clearly  with  such  special  difficulties  as  arose  here  and 
there,  and  in  a  day  the  changed  system  was  in  calm  opera- 
tion. The  new  opium  Likin  scheme  was  a  masterpiece  of 
able  administration. 

Next  followed  the  Tibetan  or  Sikkim  question,  involving 
negotiations  between  Peking  and  the  Indian  government. 
These  were  conducted  chiefly  by  Sir  Robert  Hart  by  tele- 
graph, in  addition  of  course  to  his  regular  work,  which  of 
itself  was  onerous  enough.  He  now  purposed  returning 
to  England,  and  began  the  necessary  preparations.  Yet  the 
moment  seemed  never  to  come  when  he  could  safely  leave 
his  post.  The  Chinese- Japanese  war  broke  out  in  1894-95; 
of  course  he  would  not  ask  leave  of  absence  at  such  a  junc- 
ture. Next  came  the  opening  of  the  West  River  to  trade; 
and  after  that  the  strife  for  concessions  among  the  European 
legations  in  Peking  became  most  menacing — the  actual 
partition  of  China  was  begun.  The  coup-d'etat  of  1898 
followed — and  Hart  was  still  in  Peking,  no  possibility  of 
leaving  China  at  so  critical  a  time!  In  this  way  year  fol- 
lowed year,  with  the  faithful  inspector  general  still  at  his 
desk  striving  to  save  what  he  could  of  China's  tattered  sov- 
ereignty, and  at  all  events  successfully  holding  her  invaluable 
revenue  service  steady  and  unshaken  on  its  course.  Lady 
Hart  with  her  children  had  returned  from  Peking  to  England 
in  1882;  but  how  could  the  inspector  general  hope  to  join 
them  while  China  was  in  such  dire  straits? 


296  EDWAED    B.    DREW 

So  far  from  dn^ppinji;  liis  task,  PTart  even  took  on  in  1897 
a  new  enterprise  of  nianmioth  proportions — the  creation 
of  a  postal  service  to  be  gradually  extended  over  the  entire 
empire.  The  foroij2;n  ofhce  memorialized  the  throne  in 
advocacy  of  this  proposal;  the  emperor  issued  an  edict  of 
approval.  On  Hart's  confident  and  willing — if  overburdened 
— shoulders  was  laid  this  immense  task.  He  was  made  in- 
spector general  of  posts.  Up  to  this  time  China  had  no 
conception  of  a  national  post  office  functioning  everywhere. 
The  Chinese  had  known  hitherto  only  petty  express  agencies, 
private  letter-carrying  "shops,"  operating  on  a  few  main 
routes,  for  comparatively  high  charges.  Vested  interests 
must  be  handled  tenderly,  else  popular  hostility  would  be 
aroused,  and  the  new  scheme  would  instantly  forfeit  the 
support  of  a  timid  government  and  of  a  luke-warm  public 
opinion.  At  the  outset  there  was  to  be  expected  little  or  no 
financial  aid  from  the  impoverished  indemnity-ridden  Chi- 
nese exchequer.  And  a  staff  of  postal  men  must  be  organized 
— Chinese  and  European — and  the  many  novices  taught  their 
work.  The  appropriations  devoted  to  the  customs  establish- 
ments were  made  to  bear  the  new  expenditures — being 
treated  in  the  accounts  as  advances  to  be  refunded  when  the 
postal  service  after  some  years  should  have  become  a  success, 
and  should  have  obtained  fiscal  appropriations  of  its  own. 
Customs  men,  customs  buildings,  customs  funds  everywhere 
were  most  liberally  and  fully  devoted  to  the  new  develop- 
ment— in  addition  to  their  time  honored  regular  uses. 
There  was  no  other  way.  That  quality  of  elasticity  to  which, 
as  I  have  said  before.  Hart  had  early  habituated  the  service 
which  he  had  built  up,  was  now  subjected  to  its  severest 
tension.  But  Hart  could  generally  command  a  loyalty 
akin  to  his  own,  and  he  never  hesitated  to  exact  obedience. 
He  had  always  required  his  foreign  employees  to  study  the 
Chinese  language  and  customs;  and  besides  these  the  ser- 
vice possessed  within  its  ranks  very  many  native  clerks  of 
thorough  office  training  and  of  no  small  acquaintance  with 
English.  Upon  this  loyalty  and  fitness  Hart  drew  copiously. 
Within  a  few  years  the  coasting  and  riverine  steamers,  and 
the  few  railways  had  become  China's  contract  mail  carriers. 


SIR   ROBERT  HART   AND    HIS    LIFE    WORK  297 

From  every  open  port  radiated  mail  routes  into  the  interior, 
served  according  to  local  conditions  by  boats,  by  mules,  by 
couriers  on  foot.  Gradually  the  great  interior  provinces 
were  covered  with  a  net  work  of  postal  routes.  The  largest 
offices  were  placed  in  charge  of  such  men  as  had  demon- 
strated most  interest,  ability,  and  general  fitness  for  their 
work.  Hart's  watchfulness  and  that  of  his  chief  lieutenants 
at  headquarters  was  never  relaxed.  At  length  the  central 
and  the  provincial  governments  became  full  converts  and 
sincere  supporters  of  the  national  post  office,  and  grants  in 
aid  where  necessary  were  made.  Today  China  regards  the 
postal  service  as  no  less  essential  to  the  life  and  business  of 
the  nation  than  it  is  elsewhere  over  the  globe.  It  is  no 
longer  dependent  on  the  mother  service,  but  has  its  own 
separate  existence.  In  1912  there  were  over  6000  postal 
establishments,  wdth  127,000  miles  of  courier  connections, 
and  the  service  dealt  with  421,000,000  of  postal  articles.^ 

How  shall  one  speak  adequately  of  that  cruel  summer  of 
1900  when  China's  so  loyal  helper  was  suddenly  entrapped, 
together  with  the  entire  Peking  foreign  community  in  the 
onrushing  tempest  of  the  Boxer  fanaticism?  True,  Hart 
foresaw  the  approach  of  peril  but  he  misjudged  the  time  of 
the  outburst.  He  had  taken  steps  to  prepare  his  Peking 
staff  for  sending  away  wives  and  children  as  the  danger 
increased,  but  he  was  too  late!  The  German  minister  was 
murdered.  Behold  the  Boxers  within  the  city  gates,  sweep- 
ing all  before  them — burning  and  slaughtering.  The  little 
community  was  at  bay  fighting  for  life.  Like  all  others, 
Hart  left  his  house  and  his  invaluable  papers,  the  offices  with 
their  archives  of  fifty  years,  and  sought  refuge  in  the  legation 

*  It  may  be  taken  as  probable  that  Hart's  success  in  creating  and  more 
especially  in  extending  the  postal  service  by  gradual  stops  until  it  covered 
the  empire,  led  directly  to  the  conviction  in  his  own  mind  that  the  sorely 
needed  reorganization,  reform  and  purification  of  the  national  land  tax  might 
be  accomplished  in  a  similar  way.  And  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  his 
published  Land  Tax  Proposals,  though  negatived  when  they  were  made,  will 
yet  be  adopted  in  principle  if  and  when  the  present  Chinese  government 
feels  itself  strong  enough  to  grapple  with  the  subject.  But  it  requires 
almost  "the  gestation  of  a  thousand  years"  to  produce  a  man  of  Hart's 
experience,  devotedness,  and  energy — fit  to  achieve  so  Herculean  a  task. 


20S  EDWARD    B.    DREW 

area.  He  took  with  liim  only  a  small  roll  of  blankets,  and  a 
few  clothes.  Strangely  enough,  he  believed  that  the  cus- 
toms premises  would  be  spared  because  they  belonged  to 
the  government!  In  fact,  they  were  speedily  with  their 
contents  burned  to  the  ground.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
siege  Hart  had  little  hope  that  the  foreigners  could  be  saved. 
To  me  at  Tientsin  he  sent  by  a  trusty  coolie,  who  took  his 
life  in  his  hand  to  bring  the  note,  this  desperate  touching 
message  written  in  ink  on  a  small  scrap  of  paper;  what 
volumes  it  speaks ! 

Legations  ordered  to  leave  Peking  in  24  hours!!! — R.  H. 

19  June,  1900.  4  p.  m.     Good  bye! 

Pay  bearer  Tls.  100.— R.  H. 

Drew, 

Customs, 
Tientsin. 

I  need  not  dwell  on  the  thrilling  tale  of  the  eight  weeks 
that  followed.  For  the  hard  pressed  Europeans  it  is  a 
story  of  suffering,  of  horror,  of  death,  of  wondrous  fortitude, 
of  unflinching  tenacity  and  courage.  The  world's  history 
afTords  few  examples  of  equal  heroism  displayed  by  women 
and  by  men.  Sir  Robert,  then  in  his  sixty-sixth  year,  was 
too  old  to  take  his  place  rifle  in  hand  in  the  muddy  trenches 
or  behind  the  sand  bags;  but  his  confidence,  his  Irish  good 
humor  were  conspicuous  among  the  besieged ;  and  the  spec- 
tacle of  his  serenity,  sympathy  and  helpfulness,  as  he  moved 
about,  fortified  both  the  timorous  and  the  brave.  Needless 
to  say,  he  shared  privations  and  faced  dangers  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  humblest  around  him.  At  the  mess  table, 
when  horse  meat  was  served  for  the  first  time,  on  being  asked 
how  he  liked  it,  he  smacked  his  lips  and  replied,  "Now  I 
have  discovered  what  it  was  that  my  cook  used  to  serve  for 
my  dinner  parties,  when  I  had  charged  him  to  spare  no  pains 
to  get  a  specially  fine  piece  of  mutton!" 

During  those  desperate  weeks  his  thoughts  must  have 
striven  to  forecast  the  political  outcome  for  China,  if  the 
armies  of  the  allied  powers  should  reach  Peking  and  raise 


SIR  ROBERT   HART   AND   HIS   LIFE  WORK  299 

the  siege  and  inaugurate  the  day  of  reckoning.  What  would 
be  the  fate  of  the  empire,  and  what  the  fate  of  the  great 
ser\ace  which  he  had  spent  forty  tireless  years  in  building 
up?  Would  it  still  be  permitted  to  endure?  Could  the  new 
postal  ser\dce  hope  to  be  saved  from  wreck  and  allowed 
to  continue  its  growth? 

No  sooner  was  the  siege  over  than  the  inspector  general 
gallantly  took  up  his  work.  The  city — all  round  about  the 
legations — he  found  to  be  naught  but  bare  walls  of  brick 
amid  heaps  of  ruins.  He  did  not  forget  to  telegraph  to  Lon- 
don— to  his  one  and  only  tailor — for  suits  of  heavy  clothes; 
winter  was  drawing  near.  He  discovered  two  vacant 
rooms  in  the  rear  of  Mr.  Kierulff 's  shop  in  the  legation  quar- 
ter; these  now  became  the  head  office  of  the  inspectorate 
general!  Here  I  found  him  at  Christmas  four  months  later 
with  a  few  of  the  best  men  in  the  service  by  his  side — 
gathering  up  the  tangled  threads  and  restoring  the  disordered 
fabric. 

Hart's  first  step  when  safe  once  more,  was  to  cast  about 
him  for  the  former  head  of  the  Chinese  foreign  office,  Prince 
Ch'ing,  in  order  to  bring  China  again  into  official  relations 
with  the  ministers  of  the  foreign  powers.  Obviously  the 
main  thing  to  be  done  was  to  open  negotiations,  to  arrange 
preliminary  terms  of  peace,  to  get  the  foreign  troops  called 
in  from  the  country  around  Peking,  and  so  spare  the  afflicted 
peasantry.  Government  all  over  north  China  had  become 
demoralized  and  order  must  replace  the  threatened  chaos. 
Prince  Ch'ing  was  soon  found  by  Sir  Robert  and  was  easily 
induced  to  begin  peace  making.  This  was  a  service  of  incal- 
culable value  to  the  future  of  China.  Hart  then  wrote  that 
series  of  seasonable  articles  which  appeared  rapidly  in  vari- 
ous magazines,  while  public  attention  was  still  intent  on 
the  Chinese  question,  pointing  out  to  Europe  and  to  America 
the  causes  of  the  Boxer  fury  and  the  consequences  to  be 
expected  in  the  future  of  injustice  perpetrated  by  the  great 
powers  against  the  integrity  and  the  rights  of  China.  These 
essays  ,  collected  and  published  with  the  title  These  from  the 
Land  of  Sinim,  still  stand  as  a  warning  to  the  leaders  of  world 
politics  and  dollar  diplomacy.     It  is  a  marvellous  instance 


300  EDWARD    B.    DREW 

of  Hart's  fidelity  to  Cliina  and  devotion  to  duty,  that  even 
after  his  bitter  experience  of  cruel  indifference  and  ingrati- 
tude, he  harbored  no  personal  resentment.  He  took  no 
holiday,  no  respite  for  recuperation  after  the  siege.  His 
capacity  and  inclination  for  work  seemed  as  unerring  and 
as  strong  as  ever;  he  soon  had  the  reins  in  his  controlling 
hands,  and  the  customs  and  postal  services  kept  on  their 
steady  way.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  during  the  lawless 
autumn  of  1900,  when  looting  and  loot  buying  was  a  fash- 
ionable orgy  in  Peking,  Hart  with  a  quiet  scorn  would  have 
no  part  in  it.  He  did  not  even  permit  himself  to  walk 
through  the  palaces  of  the  Forbidden  City,  then  aban- 
doned by  the  court  and  guarded  by  the  troops  of  the  allies. « 

The  empress  dowager,  on  her  return  to  Peking,  summoned 
him  to  private  audience.  As  he  entered  the  presence  cham- 
ber she  covered  her  face  and  expressed  her  shame  and  morti- 
fication for  the  treatment  he  had  suffered. 

Sir  Robert  remained  at  his  post  more  than  seven  years 
after  the  events  of  1900.  He  stayed  long  enough  to  behold 
the  beginnings  of  the  changing  China.  The  education  re- 
form, the  Japanese-Russian  war,  the  miraculous  crusade 
against  opium,  the  pledges  of  a  new  constitution  with  parlia- 
ments and  a  limited  monarchy;  these  great  events  marked 
his  closing  period  in  China.  No  wonder  it  seemed  that  he 
could  not  find  the  moment  when  he  might  leave  Peking  and 
go  once  more  to  England.  He  had  been  "home"  but  twice 
since  his  first  arrival  in  the  East  in  1854,  namely,  in  1866 
when  he  was  married,  and  in  1878  when  he  was  special  com- 
missioner for  China  at  the  Paris  Exposition.  Lady  Hart 
now  came  back  herself  to  Peking,  in  1906,  and  induced  him 
to  take  leave  of  absence.  The  state  of  his  health — at  last — 
re-inforced  her  persuasions.  He  left  China  in  1908,  and 
arriving  in  London  entered  for  the  first  time  the  house  where 
had  been  for  twenty  years  the  home  of  his  wife  and  children. 

^  In  July,  1900,  false  telegrams  from  China  reported  that  the  beseiged 
inmates  of  the  legations  had  been  overpowered  and  massacred.  These 
were  too  widely  credited,  and  a  few  weeks  afterwards  Hart — as  well  as  a 
number  of  others — had  the  satisfaction  of  reading  in  the  London  Times 
of  July  17  long  notices  of  their  own  careers  with  candid  criticisms  of  their 
deficiencies  and  their  public  services! 


STK   ROBERT   HART   AND   HIS    LIFE    WORK  301 

He  was  an  old  man  of  seventy-three.  Many  and  great  honors 
were  now  conferred  upon  him  in  his  own  country  by  cities 
and  universities. 

China  now  witnessed  momentous  changes ;  the  statesman 
Chang  Chih-tung  died,  the  emperor  and  the  Dowager 
empress  "ascended  to  be  guests  on  high."  A  weak  regency 
followed.  The  regent,  to  satisfy  a  foolish  revenge,  took  the 
fatal  step  of  dismissing  China's  wisest  minister  Yuan  Shih- 
kai.  Repeated  messages  from  the  Peking  foreign  office 
appealed  to  Sir  Robert  to  return  to  China.  His  answer  was, 
"Yes,  so  soon  as  my  health  will  permit."  But,  alas,  this 
was  not  to  be.  Robert  Hart  had  finished  his  course,  a  worn 
out  man  at  last!  Early  in  the  autumn  of  1910  he  died  of 
pneumonia,  in  the  country  near  London.  He  was  buried 
at  Bisham  Church  not  far  from  Marlow.  He  had  not  lived 
to  witness  the  great  events  of  1911;  but  the  revolution  could 
not  have  surprised  him.  Years  before  he  had  pointed  to  the 
impending  fate  of  the  decadent  Tsings — the  once  illustrious 
House  of  Kang  Hsi  and  Kien  Lung. 

Of  Sir  Robert  Hart's  personal  characteristics  there  is 
no  time  here  to  speak  at  length.  His  daily  life  was  a  fixed 
routine  from  which  it  greatly  irked  him  to  be  diverted. 
After  morning  tea  with  Virgil  or  Horace  as  his  companion, 
he  devoted  an  hour  to  the  violin — for  he  delighted  in  music. 
Nine  o'clock  found  him  in  his  office,  where  he  worked  stand- 
ing at  his  desk — with  an  old  railway  rug  strapped  round  him 
in  winter.  At  ten  he  received  his  secretaries,  heard  their 
reports  and  gave  directions.  This  routine  being  despatched, 
he  settled  down  to  his  own  tasks  alone.  In  doing  business 
he  was  stern,  brief,  exact  and  exacting.  His  directions  to 
his  staff,  short  and  unmistakable,  were  issued  in  writing; 
and  no  one  ventured  to  question  them  unless  sure  of  strong 
grounds  for  objection  or  criticism.  Usually  the  inspector 
general  would  be  found  to  be  posessed  of  fuller  information 
and  to  have  thought  deeper  than  the  objector,  and  discom- 
fiture followed.  At  noon  he  left  his  office  for  a  walk  in  the 
garden  around  the  house.  This  was  the  practice  hour  for 
his  band — Chinese  musicians  led  by  a  European.  At  this 
time  children  (of  whom  he  was  a  merry  companion)  walked 
and  gossiped  with  him.     After  lunch,  usually  eaten  alone, 


30L*  EDWARD    B.    DREW 

and  a  short  nap,  he  was  again  in  his  office  where  he  wrote 
till  (lark  or  even  later.  In  the  afternoon  he  did  not  permit 
hiniscll'  to  be  disturbed.  Work  over,  he  walked  again, 
frequently  alone,  in  the  garden.  After  dinner  he  read,  first 
something  serious,  jihilosophy,  biography  or  poetry, — then 
finishing  the  evening  with  a  novel.  History,  strange  to  say, 
did  not  attract  him.  He  was  abstemious  in  a  general  sense, 
though  he  did  not  refrain  entirely  from  wine  or  tobacco. 
He  was  by  no  means  unsocial,  as  a  member  of  the  Peking 
community;  he  made  calls,  he  dined  out,  and  himself  gave 
a  dinner  partj'^  weekly  through  the  winter  season,  followed  by 
a  dance.  Nor  was  he  ever  too  old  to  share  in  the  quadrille 
and  the  lancers.  But  these  evening  festivities  were  confined 
within  those  bounds  of  time  which  the  morrow's  work 
demanded;  when  eleven  o'clock  came,  the  band  struck  up  a 
stated  march — the  signal,  familiar  to  every  guest,  to  say 
"Good  night"  and  go  home.  His  Christmas  trees  year  after 
year,  who  that  were  children  in  Peking  can  ever  forget 
them!  Such  generosity,  such  an  effort  (sometimes  pathet- 
icall}'  mistaken)  that  each  gift  should  exactly  suit  the  re- 
ceiver! Each  parcel  had  been  selected,  done  up,  and  marked 
by  Sir  Robert's  own  hand!  But  also  such  a  rigid  injunction 
to  disperse  promptly  when  the  hour  struck!  Though  to 
many  persons  Hart's  life  would  seem  an  inflexible  slavery 
to  routine,  yet  he  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  men. 
There  was  nothing  in  the  wide  world  far  or  near  to  which  he 
was  indifferent.  He  was  full  of  imagination,  with  a  deep 
vein  of  superstition  even.  Coincidences,  signs,  telepathy 
had  the  greatest  attraction  for  him,  he  was  always  looking 
out  for  them  and  found  them  everj^^here.  When  the  pro- 
tocol of  the  treaty  with  France  in  1885  was  at  last  agreed  to 
— a  welcome  release  from  a  protracted  strain  of  suspense — 
he  telegraphed  even  from  far  Peking  to  Paris,  ''Don't  sign 
on  the  first  April  !"^ 

^  An  excellent  account  of  Sir  Robert  Hart's  personality,  of  his  relations  to 
the  members  of  the  customs  service,  and  of  his  work,  may  be  found  in  chap- 
ter xvi  of  Sir  Henry  Norman's  The  Peoples  and  Politics  of  the  Far  East,  Scrib- 
ner,  1895. 

See  also  chapter  on  the  "Inspectorate  of  Customs"  in  H.  B.  Morse's 
Trade  and  Administration  of  the  Chinese  Empire. 


SIR  ROBERT  HART  AND   HIS   LIFE   WORK  303 

The  only  institutions  of  government  in  China  today  which 
have  stood  firm  through  the  revolution's  storm  and  stress 
and  which  seem  certain  to  be  permanent,  are  the  two  great 
organizations  founded  and  built  up  b}^  Robert  Hart — the 
customs,  China's  one  stable  source  of  known  revenue,  and 
the  postal  ser^^ce,  which  is  spreading  new  ideas  and  stimu- 
lating popular  intelligence  throughout  the  land.  These 
services  afford  careers  to  perhaps  20,000  Chinese. 

Of  late,  some  of  the  new  leaders  among  the  Chinese  have 
expressed  keen  resentment  because  Hart  did  not  train  their 
native  fellow  countrymen  to  fill  the  highest  posts  in  the  cus- 
toms. Rather  than  display  this  resentment,  these  critics 
might  render  more  useful  aid  to  their  country  at  this  crisis 
by  devoting  their  energies  to  imitating  in  other  departments 
of  administration  the  efficient  and  incorruptible  public  serv- 
ice which  Hart  built  up.  Here  is  their  best  field  of  present 
reform !  Let  them  imitate  the  example  ready  to  their  hands ! 
It  is  true  that  Hart  did  not  train  up  Chinese  to  become  com- 
missioners of  customs  at  the  treaty  ports.  In  the  sixties 
he  announced  publicly  his  purpose  to  do  so  through  the 
Tung  Wen  Kwan  Colleges  at  Peking  and  Canton.  That 
nothing  came  of  this  purpose  is  the  fault  of  the  native  offi- 
cials, who  degraded  those  colleges  into  mere  sinecures  for 
permanent,  idle  (but  salaried)  ''students"  so  called!  Prior 
to  the  revolution,  there  were  no  cadets  to  be  found  of  the 
social  standing  and  birth  requisite  to  make  responsible  and 
incorruptible  chiefs  of  the  customs  offices.  Such  Chinese 
young  men  as  chose  to  come  forward  did  not  possess  the 
inherent  qualities  or  the  native  education  to  enable  them  to 
acquire  the  prestige  necessary  for  dealing  with  Chinese 
official  colleagues  of  the  old  school,  or  to  exercise  due  author- 
ity over  their  staffs  or  among  native  and  foreign  merchants 
at  the  ports  of  trade.  Besides,  the  customs  service  was 
legally  in  its  nature  and  origin,  a  mixed  institution,  to  be 
conducted  under  foreigners  and  in  foreign  methods.  And 
as  with  time  loans  to  China  were  made,  the  lenders  even 
stipulated  that  the  customs  revenues  which  were  pledged  as 
security  must  be  administered  according  to  the  existing 
system  and  without  organic  change.     In  a  word  Chinese 


304  EDWARD    B.    DREW 

official  ideals  of  integrity  must  first  be  raised,  as  they  will  be; 
and  when  that  time  conies,  the  customs  service  will  require 
no  foreign  stilTening. '^  Sun  Yat  Sen  has  taken  a  juster  view 
of  Hart's  achievements  than  some  others  of  his  native 
critics.^ 

The  key  of  Hart's  life  of  patience  and  loyalty  with  the 
Chinese  and  of  his  fidelity  to  duty,  was  a  simple  one.  To  me 
he  wrote  in  1S67,  thinking  of  slow  China,  early  in  his  career: 

We  have  not  wings,  we  cannot  soar, 
But  we  have  feet  to  scale  and  climb 
By  slow  degrees,  by  more  and  more. 
Therefore,  learn  to  labor  and  to  wait. 

And  on  the  pad  on  his  office  desk,  Miss  Bredon  tells  us,  not 
long  before  quitting  China  he  had  left  these  characteristic 
lines : 

If  thou  hast  yesterday  thy  duty  done, 
And  thereby  cleared  firm  footing  for  today, 

Whatever  clouds  may  dark  tomorrow's  sun, 
Thou  shalt  not  miss  thy  solitary  way! 


*  Further  and  plainer  language  on  this  topic  may  be  found  in  Bland's 
Recent  Events  and  Present  Policies,  p.  209. 

*  Sun  Yat  Sen  and  the  Awakening  of  China,  by  Dr.  James  Cantlie,  p.  248, 
Dr.  Sun  calls  Hart  "the  most  trusted  as  he  was  the  most  influential  of 
'Chinese.'" 


A  PERSONAL  ESTIMATE  OF  THE  CHARACTER  OF 
THE  LATE  EMPRESS  DOWAGER,  TZE-HSI 

By  Katharine  A.  Carl,  Painter  of  the  Portrait  of  the  Late 
Empress  Dowager 

I  must  first  apologize  for  giving  you  but  a  gossipy  talk, 
reminiscent  of  the  dynasty  that  has  passed  and  not  touching 
upon  things  of  import  to  China  of  today.  Though  the  object 
of  this  conference,  to  which  Clarke  University  has  convened 
us,  is  to  bring  us  to  a  better  knowledge  and  appreciation  of 
the  Chinese,  while  we  thrill  at  the  recital  of  the  struggles 
of  the  young  republic  to  make  itself  worthy,  I  think  all 
who  are  interested  in  China  of  today,  even  the  ardent  young 
republicans  themselves,  cannot  fail  to  find  some  interest,  to 
feel  some  pride  in  the  great  Empress  Tze-Hsi  who  so  long 
presided  over  the  destinies  of  China,  who,  Manchu  as  she 
was,  loving  her  own  and  full  of  the  prejudices  of  her  race. 
I  found  a  patriotic  Chinese,  really  loving  and  fully  conscious 
of  her  great  responsibilities  toward  China,  deeply  imbued 
with  the  idea  of  China's  integrity,  her  right  to  retain  her 
national  entity  at  all  costs  and  her  power  to  work  out  her 
own  salvation. 

I  had  the  honor  of  painting  her  majesty's  portraits  and 
of  living  with  her  during  the  eleven  months  necessary  for 
the  work.  I  was,  during  this  time,  brought  into  the  close 
and  quasi-intimate  association  that  generally  exists  between 
the  painter  and  his  sitter,  however  august,  and  I  learned  to 
admire  the  Empress  Dowager  sincerely.  I  found  her  a 
charming  woman  ever  fascinating  and  elusive,  a  perfect 
hostess,  always  thoughtful  and  considerate,  a  witty  conver- 
sationalist, a  clever  painter,  a  womanly  woman  full  of  intelli- 
gence and  charm;  besides  admiring  in  her  those  qualities  of 
statesmanship,  that  executive  power  which  the  world  at 
large  has  acknowledged. 

305 


306  KATHARINE   A.    CARL 

Interesting;  as  she  was  from  the  artist's  standpoint,  with 
her  well  poised  head,  her  flashing  eye,  her  noble  nose,  her 
regal  bearing  enhanced  by  imperial  vestments  and  splendid 
jewels:  her  character,  her  vivid  personality  soon  charmed  me 
more  than  her  exterior,  and  psychologically  she  was  as  inter- 
esting a  study  as  she  was  artistically. 

As  the  first  question  I  am  invariably  asked  about  my 
experience  is  China  is  "How  did  you  come  to  paint  the  Em- 
press Dowager's  portrait?"  I  will  leave  the  interesting 
personality  of  my  august  sitter  for  the  moment,  and  begin  by 
telling  you  all  I  know  about  this.  I  visited  Peking  a  few  days 
after  my  arrival  in  China  and  at  a  dinner  my  first  evening 
there,  a  secretary  of  the  French  legation  in  Peking  (whom  I 
had  known  in  Paris)  from  his  place  at  table,  some  distance 
from  mine,  asked  me  if  I  was  not  going  "to  paint  the  por- 
trait of  the  Empress  Dowager  while  I  was  in  Peking."  I 
laughlinglj^  replied  I  was  was  perfectly  willing  to  do  so,  but 
feared  "willingness"  would  not  carry  me  far  towards  its 
accomphshment,  that  my  ambition  at  that  time  had  not 
soared  higher  than  hoping  to  have  the  opportunity  oi  seeing 
the  great  woman!  He  insisted  that  being  a  woman  and  a 
painter  of  some  little  reputation  were  "  quaUfications"  and 
that  it  was  not  so  improbable.  He  then  appealed  to  Sir 
Robert  Hart  asking  him  if  it  were  not  "probable."  Sir 
Robert  seemed  more  annoyed  than  interested  and  put  a 
stop  to  the  conversation  by  saying,  "Miss  Carl  has  not  come 
to  China  to  paint  anyone's  portrait."  Later  in  the  evening 
when  I  was  alone  with  him,  Sir  Robert  referred  to  the  con- 
versation by  saying.     "It  seems  strange  Monsieur  — 

who  has  been  in  China  ten  years  doesn't  know  Chinese 
emperors  and  empresses  are  never  painted  from  hfe.  After 
their  deaths  a  more  or  less  imaginary  Hkeness  from  memory 
is  made  of  them,  but  should  the  Empress  Dowager  set 
aside  all  traditions,  as  she  is  capable  of  doing,  it  would  never 
be  in  favor  of  a  foreigner."  As  he  was  so  earnest  about  it 
I  laughingly  assured  him  I  had  no  intention  of  taking  Mon- 
sieur   au  serieux,  that  I  should  not  pursue  the  Em- 
press Dowager  into  the  mysterious  fastnesses  of  the  forbidden 
city  and  demand  to  paint  her  portrait,  nor  should  I  even 


THE   LATE   EMPRESS   DOWAGER   TZE-HSI  307 

attack  the  Foreign  Office,  backed  by  my  government,  and 
insist  on  painting  her  majesty  or  ha\'ing  an  indemnity. 

Four  months  later  I  was  in  Chefoo.  There  I  received  a 
letter  from  Mrs.  Conger  wife  of  our  then  minister  to  China. 
She  wrote,  ''There  is  a  question  of  the  Empress  Dowager 
having  her  portrait  painted.  Mr.  Conger  and  I  are  very 
anxious  to  have  it  sent  to  the  St.  Louis  Exposition.  We 
should  like  to  know,  if  it  should  be  brought  about,  if  you 
would  be  wiUing  to  come  to  Peking  and  undertake  it."  I 
hastened  to  assure  Mrs.  Conger  not  only  of  my  "wilhngness" 
but  of  my  great  desire  to  do  it.  And  immediately  the  mem- 
ory of  my  first  night  in  Peking  and  the  dinner  conversation 
recurred  to  me  and  I  reahzed,  from  what  Sir  Robert  had 
told  me,  how  improbable  such  a  thing  was.  While  feeling 
duly  grateful  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Conger  for  their  interest,  I 
spoke  of  the  letter  to  no  one  but  my  brother  and  soon  put  it 
out  of  my  mind. 

Five  months  later  I  was  in  Shanghai  when  I  received  a 
second  letter  from  Mrs.  Conger  saying  she  thought  the  por- 
trait was  "imminent,"  that  they  expected  word  from  the 
palace  any  day  as  to  when  it  was  to  be  begun.  Needless  to 
say  I  was  amazed  and  overjoyed  at  the  thought  of  the  "im- 
possible" becoming  the  probable,  and  in  a  few  days  I  had 
the  third  letter  from  Mrs.  Conger  containing  a  copy  of  the 
official  message  her  majesty  had  sent  through  the  Wai-Wu- 
Pu  to  the  American  legation  thus  worded,  "H.  I,  M.  The 
Empress  Dowager  of  Great  China  requests  her  Excellency 
Mrs.  Conger  to  present  the  American  artist  at  the  palace  on 
Friday  August  5,  for  the  purpose  of  painting  her  majesty's 
portrait." 

On  arrival  in  Peking  I  went  to  the  American  legation  as 
guest  of  our  Minister  and  Mrs.  Conger.  Soon  after  my 
arrival  there  the  Empress  Dowager's  interpreters  came  to 
inquire  on  the  part  of  her  majesty  if  I  had  made  a  comfortable 
voyage  and  to  hope  that  I  was  not  too  fatigued  thereby 
to  begin  her  majesty's  portrait  on  the  day  I  was  to  be  pre- 
sented. "The  augurs  and  astrologers  had  naturally  been 
consulted  on  so  momentous  an  event  as  the  painting  of  her 
majesty's  first  portrait  and  had  found  that  the  day  on  which 


308  KATHARINE   A.    CARL 

I  was  to  be  presented  was  a  most  auspicious  day  for  begin- 
ning." I  immediately  agreed  to  begin  on  the  "auspicious 
day,"  saying  I  would  make  a  small  sketch  on  that  day.  I 
was  told  her  majesty  did  not  wish  a  "small  sketch"  but  "a 
very  large  portrait."  I  assured  them  that  the  small  sketch 
would  serve  as  a  basis  for  as  large  a  portrait  as  her  majesty 
desired,  but  I  found  this  could  not  be  done;  as,  to  carry  out 
the  instructions  of  the  augurs  and  astrologers,  the  final  large 
picture  must  be  begun,  if  only  by  a  line,  on  the  day  chosen ! 
Thus  not  knowing  anything  of  her  majesty,  whether  she 
would  require  a  wide  or  narrow  canvas,  I  stretched  one,  three 
by  six  feet,  and  on  the  appointed  day  Mrs.  Conger,  her  in- 
terpreter and  mj^self,  with  all  my  paraphernalia,  canvas,  easel, 
charcoal  and  paints  set  out  for  the  summer  palace,  sixteen- 
miles  from  Peking. 

On  arrival  at  the  gates  a  young  official  from  the  Wai- 
Wu-Pu  (foreign  office)  came  out  to  receive  us.  The  foreign 
oflEice  has  its  own  building  at  the  gates  of  the  summer  palace 
as  at  the  winter  palace  in  Peking,  for  the  Empress  Dowager 
unlike  European  potentates,  transacted  business  of  state 
even  when  she  was  in  villegiature.  This  young  official, 
while  assisting  us  to  alight,  told  us  her  majesty  was  in  a  most 
gracious  mood  and  had  decided  to  give  me  ^^two  sittings  for 
the  portrait"  that  I  was  to  remain  in  the  summer  palace 
for  the  night  and  have  a  sitting  the  next  day!  Had  I  been 
able  to  begin  by  a  preparatory  small  canvas,  these  two  sittings 
would  have  delighted  me,  but  two  sittings  for  a  canvas  three 
feet  by  six  was  not  encouraging!  However,  though  I 
knew  two  sittings  would  be  almost  useless  on  such  a  canvas, 
I  enjoyed  the  thought  of  being  able  to  see  the  Great  Empress 
and  study  her  two  days  in  succession. 

The  palace  eunuchs  awaited  us  in  the  court  of  the  foreign 
office  with  the  red  palace  chairs.  We  were  soon  seated  in 
them  and  lifted  from  the  ground  and  borne  swiftly  by  the 
eunuch  bearers  through  the  outer  gates  of  the  palace,  past 
beautiful  yellow  roofed  buildings  through  wonderful  flower- 
filled  courts  until  we  finally  reached  the  largest  of  these  last 
on  the  banks  of  the  lake.  Tall  flag  staffs  painted  in  blue  and 
white  with  the  imperial  pennants  waving  in  the  breeze,  flanked 


THE   LATE   EMPRESS   DOWAGER   TZE-HSI  309 

a  white  marble-stepped  landing  place.  Growing  shrubs  and 
fragrant  flowers  filled  this  court,  over  which  was  stretched 
a  silken  awning.  On  the  side  opposite  the  lake,  in  front  of 
a  great  yellow-tiled  building  with  its  roof's  upturned  corners 
supported  by  vermilion  columns,  our  chau's  were  set  down — ■ 
the  great  plate  glass  doors,  emblazoned  with  her  majesty's 
favorite  character  in  vermihon  and  gold,  were  thrown  open 
and  we  entered  the  throne  room. 

A  group  of  ladies  stood  waiting  to  receive  us.  The  young 
Empress  (wife  of  the  Emperor)  surrounded  by  the  princesses 
of  the  blood  and  her  majesty's  interpreters  (one  German  and 
three  Enghsh  and  French).  Neither  the  Empress  Dowager 
nor  the  Emperor  were  present.  The  English  and  French 
interpreters  were  the  Lady  Yu  Keng  and  her  daughters; 
Yu  Keng,  a  Manchu  had  been  minister  to  France  and  there 
the  daughters  had  learned  French.  While  Lady  Yu  Keng 
spoke  Enghsh.  I  was  talking  with  them  when  I  noticed  a 
lull,  and  on  looking  around  saw  a  young  and  charming  look- 
ing person,  who  was  so  different  from  my  preconceived  idea 
of  the  Empress  Dowager  that  I  asked  who  it  was.  "Her 
majesty."  She  entered,  followed  by  the  Emperor,  who  looked 
young  and  shy.  Mrs.  Conger  first,  paid  her  respects  and 
immediately  the  Empress  Dowager  asked  "Where  is  the 
artist,"  and  I  was  brought  up  and  began  to  make  a  reverence 
which  she  stopped  by  holding  out  her  hands  and  saying 
"Ceremony  is  waived  between  artists,"  referring  to  herself 
as  an  artist  which  she  was.  After  enquiring  if  I  did  not  feel 
too  tired  to  begin  at  the  appointed  time  she  withdrew  to 
prepare  herself  for  the  sitting — as  she  had  received  us  in 
quite  simple  dress.  She  soon  returned  clothed  in  all  the 
splendour  of  her  imperial  attire,  her  hair  dressed  in  Manchu 
fashion  and  bedecked  with  brilliant  flowers  and  curious 
jewels,  her  face  bright  and  animated,  she  was  truly  an 
interesting  subject  for  an  artist.  She  asked  if  there  was 
any  change  I  should  like  made  in  the  disposition  of  the  fur- 
niture and  when  I  suggested  that  the  Dragon  Throne  be 
moved  nearer  the  great  plate-glass  doors  (the  only  place 
where  the  light  was  good  ejiough  to  work)  the  princesses  and 
eunuchs  looked  as  if  the  ceiling  should  fall  upon  my  unworthy 


310  KATHARINE   A.    CARL 

lioiul  for  such  a  sup;oosti()n  hut  her  majesty  immediately 
orilerecl  the  throne  moved,  and  when  it  was  in  place  and  my 
easel  set  up  in  front  of  it,  she  mounted  the  dais  and  said  the 
liour  for  beginning  was  soon  to  sound  and  before  she  had 
finished  speaking  the  eighty-six  clocks  in  this  throne-room 
began  to  strike  the  auspicious  hour!  Her  majesty  fixed  her 
wonderful,  penetrating  eyes  upon  me  and  held  up  her  hand 
for  me  to  begin — and  there  I  stood  with  the  princesses  in  a 
row  behind  me  and  behind  them  a  crowd  of  palace  eunuchs, 
all  watching  me!  I  simply  could  not  raise  the  charcoal  to 
the  canvas  for  a  few  seconds.  I  was  ignominiously  afraid; 
but  I  soon  got  some  mastery  over  myself  and  began.  It 
seemed  to  me  I  had  drawn  but  a  few  moments  when  her 
majesty  held  up  her  hand  and  said  the  sitting  was  over. 
Aided  bj^  the  princesses  and  ennuchs  she  descended  from  the 
dais  and  came  to  look  at  the  portrait.  I  too  looked  at  it; 
now  with  eyes  that  saw,  and  I  realized  how  far  I  had  fallen 
short  of  what  I  should  have  done.  After  looking  at  it  for 
some  time,  though  I  am  sure  as  fully  conscious  as  myself  of 
its  shortcomings,  she  pronounced  herself  as  satisfied  with 
the  beginning;  and  then  turning  to  me  said,  "How  would 
you  like  to  stop  in  the  palace  and  paint  this  at  your  leisure 
and  my  convenience?"  I  hastened  to  accept  this  most  unex- 
pected invitation  and  thus  began  my  eleven  months  in  the 
different  palaces  of  the  Empress  Dowager,  and  my  delight- 
ful experiences  as  a  member  of  her  household;  not  quite  as  a 
member  of  her  household,  for  though  I  had  a  day  domicile 
within  the  precincts,  she  installed  me  in  the  palace  of  the 
Emperor's  father  near  the  sunomer  palace.  My  domicile 
had  beautiful  grounds,  numerous  pavilions,  lakes,  summer 
houses  and  its  own  theater,  she  gave  me  a  retinue  of  servants 
(three  hundred,  I  learned  later)  also  carts,  horses,  outriders: 
in  short,  entertained  me  in  quite  royal  fashion. 

WTiat  most  impressed  me  at  first  in  the  Empress  Dowager 
was  her  extreme  simplicity.  I  had  always  thought  of  her  as 
the  central  figure  in  a  continuous  pageant,  as  never  laying 
aside  f  ormaUty,  as  always  rigid  in  the  traditions  of  her  old  and 
conservative  court;  and  I  found  her  simple,  womanly,  and 
human  in  the  best  sense,  interested  in  all  that  surrounded 


THE   LATE   EMPRESS   DOWAGER  TZE-HSI  311 

her,  in  nature,  in  people  and  in  art.  Her  passion  for  iBowers 
was  extraordinary,  and  her  dogs  were  great  favorites,  and 
she  loved  to  amuse  herself  with  them  in  her  leisure  moments. 
She  was  an  early  riser,  and  as  all  Chinese  court  functions 
are  held  before  mid-day,  she  was  early  to  bed  as  well.  She 
rose  at  half  past  five  and  had  her  tea,  then  the  young  Em- 
press and  the  ladies  came  and  assisted  at  her  levee.  On 
entering  her  bedroom  they  knelt  and  said  together  the  usual 
greeting,  "  Lao-tze- tseng  chee-siang."  "  May  the  Holy 
mother  be  happy,"  and  unless  they  were  dismissed,  all  re- 
mained during  her  morning  toilette  which  was  the  most 
elaborate  of  the  day,  as  she  dressed  then  for  the  audience 
or  for  any  ceremony  there  happened  to  be.  After  the  toilette 
was  completed  the  Emperor  came  in  and  paid  his  respects. 
Then  the  two,  in  their  imperial  robes  of  state,  went  to  the 
audience  chamber  followed  by  a  large  retinue  of  their  respec- 
tive attendants. 

The  audience  hall  was  in  another  building,  for  the  Chi- 
nese palaces,  instead  of  being  one  great  building  as  in 
Europe,  consist  of  a  number  of  pavilions  divided  by  courts 
and  connected  by  covered  archways.  The  Emperor  had 
his  own  pavilion  and  his  own  throne  room  quite  apart 
from  the  Empress  Dowager's  in  all  the  imperial  palaces. 
The  audience  hall  was  in  common.  There  they  held  their 
joint  audiences.  On  their  approach  to  the  audience  hall 
a  band  of  Chinese  musicians  dressed  in  gala  robes  of  red 
played  a  minor  air  on  their  curious  instruments  in  the  rhythm 
of  a  Gregorian  chant.  I  called  this  the  imperial  hymn  for 
it  was  always  played  when  their  majesties  passed  for  a  cere- 
mony or  to  hold  audience!  The  government  in  China  under 
the  Empress  Dowager  and  the  old  regime  was  a  complicated 
affair.  Every  Province  had  its  own  and  every  city  a  num- 
ber of  boards,  and  the  heads  of  all  these  departments  reported 
to  their  majesties'  grand  council  at  Peking  several  times  a 
year,  and  their  majesties  received  the  members  of  the  council 
or  some  officials  everyday  in  audience.  Audiences  were 
held  whether  at  the  summer,  sea,  or  winter  palaces.  I 
was,  of  course,  never  present  in  the  hall  while  audience  was 
being  held.     During  the  audience  the  young  Empress  and 


312  KATHARINE   A.    CARL 

tlio  Princesses  and  ladies  who  had  accompanied  the  Empress 
Dowager  to  the  door,  sat  outside  on  the  verandah,  smoked 
cigarettes,  and  gossiped,  and  I  sometimes  made  one  of  that 
fri\olous  throng.  After  the  audience  their  majesties  took 
their  respective  ways  followed  by  their  respective  suites  to 
their  own  quarters.  On  arrival  in  her  throne  room  the 
Empress  Dowager  had  her  robes  of  state  removed,  her  im- 
perial head  dress  with  its  flowers  and  jewels  was  taken  off 
and  she  was  then  clothed  in  a  simple  gown  and  her  hair 
arranged  quite  simply,  close  to  her  head  with  a  single  flower 
or  one  jewelled  ornament.  After  this  she  sat  down  to  rest 
and  talk  with  the  ladies.  Then  she  would  pose  an  hour  for 
her  portrait.  I  painted  the  first  portrait  in  her  throne  room 
where  she  sat  when  her  meals  were  served  and  out  of  which 
opened  her  bedroom  and  boudoir.  During  these  sittings 
for  the  portrait  she  would  sip  tea  from  time  to  time  or  eat 
candied  fruits,  and  now  and  then  smoke  cigarettes  held  in  a 
jewelled  mouthpiece.  After  an  hour's  sitting  she  would 
tire  and  say  we  must  rest  and  when  I  protested  I  was  not 
tired  and  could  easily  go  on  for  an  hour  she  would  insist 
that  if  she  were  tired  sitting,  doing  nothing,  I  must  be, 
standing  and  working,  that  if  she  needed  rest,  I  did  also. 
Thus  for  the  first  three  months  I  was  not  allowed  to  work 
except  when  she  could  sit,  as  the  Throne  room  where  I  had 
to  paint  was  her  sitting  room.  When  the  sitting  was  finished 
the  eunuchs  removed  the  ''holy  picture"  as  the  portrait 
was  called;  my  brushes  and  palette  were  taken  away  to  be 
cleaned,  my  easel  removed  and  the  throne  room  resumed  its 
usual  aspect,  save  for  the  throne  which  kept  the  place  near 
the  door  where  I  had  asked  to  have  it  moved  that  first  day, 
and  the  great  yellow  covered  box  which  had  been  made,  at 
the  Empress  Dowager's  order,  to  hold  my  brushes,  palette, 
oils,  etc. 

After  the  sitting  the  Empress  Dowager  sometimes  took  a 
walk  before  ordering  the  luncheon  or  "early  rice."  For 
this,  a  long  table  was  set  with  its  one  cover  at  the  end  for 
her  majesty,  for  she  took  it  alone.  The  table  was  loaded  with 
yellow  dishes,  filled  with  the  different  meats,  fish,  soups 
and  vegetables,  and  covered  with  curiously  chased  pyramidal 


THE   LATE   EMPRESS   DOWAGER   TZE-HSI  313 

silver  covers  which  were  removed  by  an  army  of  eunuchs 
when  her  majesty  took  her  seat  at  the  head.  The  meal, 
though  the  table  was  so  bountifully  set,  was  soon  finished, 
for  though  she  had  a  normal  appetite  the  Empress  Dowager 
was  not  a  great  eater.  After  the  meal  her  golden  rince- 
bouche  was  brought,  then  a  great  silver  basin  with  silken 
towels  when  she  washed  her  hands. 

After  luncheon  she  took  her  siesta  and  was  read  to,  when 
that  was  over  there  was  a  promenade  through  the  grounds 
accompanied  by  the  eunuchs  bearing  chairs,  so  that,  if 
fatigued  her  majesty  and  the  ladies  could  be  carried  over 
the  rest  of  the  ground.  Sometimes  she  would  be  rowed  on 
the  lake  in  the  imperial  barge  for  the  afternoon  exercise. 
There  was  quite  a  fleet  on  the  lake  when  she  elected  to  go  in 
her  barge.  This,  with  her  throne  chair  covered  with  yellow, 
in  the  center  of  the  raised  platform,  was  drawn  by  two 
other  boats  of  twenty-four  standing  rowers!  The  army  of 
eunuchs  who  always  accompanied  the  Empress  Dowager  and 
Emperor  on  their  walks  or  when  they  went  on  the  lake,  stood 
in  six  or  seven  other  boats  which  followed  the  imperial  barge. 
She  sat  in  her  throne  chair,  the  ladies  sitting  or  reclining  on 
cushions  on  the  platform  of  the  barge.  When  the  Emperor 
elected  to  accompany  her  majesty,  which  he  often  did,  he 
sat  quite  simply  at  her  left  on  a  cushion  with  no  more  cere- 
mony than  was  accorded  the  ladies,  the  only  difTerence  being 
that  his  cushion  was  yellow,  while  the  ladies  had  red  ones. 
His  and  the  Empress  Dowager's  chief  eunuchs  stood  behind 
them  on  the  barge.  These  often  served  tea  or  sweets  while 
we  were  gliding  over  the  waters  of  the  lake.  We  sometimes 
landed  at  one  of  the  landing  places  far  from  the  throne  room 
court,  and  the  chairs  met  us  and  we  were  carried  back. 
Sometimes  the  barge  would  be  brought  to  the  imperial  land- 
ing place  flanked  by  the  great  painted  columns  bearing  the 
imperial  pennants,  and  we  would  disembark  in  front  of  the 
throne  room.  On  our  return  from  the  promenade  Walni 
Fahn  or  late  rice  was  served  in  her  majesty's  throne  room. 
This,  the  dinner,  was  no  more  elaborate  than  luncheon. 
It  could  not  be!  There  was  the  same  long  tal>l(;  laden  with 
the  yellow  porcelain  silver-covered  dishes,  filled  with  the 


314  KATHAKINE   A.    CARL 

same  rare  and  tempting  food.  Bird's  nest  soup,  shark's 
fins,  preserved  eggs,  white  shrimps,  boneless  capons  and 
ducks,  bamboo  shoots,  salads  and  all  the  wonderful  dishes 
that  make  the  Chinese  menu  the  most  recherche  and  elab- 
orate in  the  world.  It  seemed  a  strange  anomaly  to  call 
these  repasts,  worthy  of  Lucullus,  by  such  simple  names  as 
early  and  late  rice! 

After  dinner  (rarely  later  then  six  o'clock)  when  her 
majestj'  made  the  sign,  I  bade  her  good-night  and,  accom- 
panied by  the  Ladies  Yu  Keng  and  the  eunuchs  set  aside 
for  our  service  while  in  the  palace,  we  were  carried  in  our 
chairs  to  the  outer  gates,  thence  to  our  palace  in  our  own 
carts  and  chairs. 

The  Empress  Dowager  was  a  great  purist  as  to  language. 
She  had  a  fine  musical  ear  and  detected  at  once  and  deplored 
any  misuse  of  words  or  misplacing  of  the  tonic  accent,  so 
important  in  speaking  Chinese.  It  was  a  beautiful  language 
as  spoken  by  her,  with  her  silvery  voice  and  clear  intonation. 
She  bemoaned  the  fact  of  so  many  dialects  being  spoken 
in  China.  Even  Mandarin  (official)  Chinese  is  marred 
by  the  many  and  varied  accents  of  the  different  provinces; 
some  of  which  were  very  trying  to  the  ears  of  the  Empress 
Dowager.  She  longed  to  have  one  language  for  China, 
spoken  as  well  as  written,  and  she  would  have  welcomed  with 
dehght  the  reform  the  Repubhc  is  instituting,  in  the  unifica- 
tion of  spoken  Chinese. 

Thinking  my  stay  in  the  palace  would  be  short  I  decided 
I  would  not  try  to  learn  Chinese  as  there  were  three  good 
interpreters  always  ready  to  translate.  The  Empress  Dow- 
ager, probably  dreading  another  shock  to  her  sensitive  ear, 
did  not  encourage  my  learning.  She  said  the  foreigners 
studied  it  for  a  Ufetime  and  then  rarely  spoke  it  well  and  it 
would  be  better  if  I  tried  Alanchu  as  that  was  more  analo- 
gous to  a  European  language  as  it  has  an  alphabet.  But 
after  I  had  learned  a  few  phrases  of  greeting  in  Chinese 
with  an  accent  not  too  offensive  she  thought  I  might  try  to 
learn  it  and  asked  if  the  foreigners  had  not  some  simple 
books  for  beginners,  I  got  two.  One  compiled  by  the  mis- 
sionaries for  the  use  of  novices  for  household  needs;  naturally 


THE   LATE   EMPRESS   DOWAGER   TZE-HSI  315 

expressed  in  anything  but  court-language,  this  was  the  first 
I  gave  her  majesty  to  look  at,  she  turned  the  first  few  pages 
slowly  and  then  more  and  more  quickly,  and  finally  hurled 
it  from  her  saying,  "It  was  impossible,  I  mustn't  touch  it." 
Then  she  looked  at  Giles'  book  for  beginners  in  Chinese  and 
though  this  did  not  meet  her  approval  she  decided  I  might 
study  that,  but  said  the  young  Empress  would  teach  me  to 
"speak  properly."  My  efforts  were  a  source  of  amusement 
to  the  princesses  and  even  the  eunuchs,  and  the  ladies  did 
not  hesitate  to  burst  into  merry  peals  of  laughter  at  my 
mistakes;  all  but  the  graciously-sweet  young  Empress. 
Even  the  Empress  Dowager  would  sometimes  share  the  gen- 
eral hilarity,  for  her  sense  of  humor  was  strong,  but  she  would 
soon  check  herself  and  the  others  by  saying  Chinese  was  so 
difficult  that  very  few  of  the  princesses  spoke  it  properly  as 
I  would  see  when  I  learned  more! 

So  simple  is  the  construction  of  spoken  Chinese  I  soon 
learned  enough  to  understand  what  was  said  to  me.  When 
the  Empress  Dowager  spoke  it  was  so  slowly  and  clearly  her 
words  being  supplemented  by  eloquent  gesture,  I  soon  under- 
stood all  she  said.  I  have  already  alluded  to  her  great  love 
of  flowers  and  this  was  not  confined  only  to  flowers,  but  to 
plants  and  the  bettering  of  certain  species.  This  was  the 
same  with  her  dogs,  she  was  very  careful  about  their  breeding. 

When  her  eyes  were  stronger  she  had  embroidered  a 
great  deal,  she  drew  and  painted  and  was  a  famous  writer 
of  the  great  characters.  She  did  not  disdain  to  interest 
herself  in  humbler  duties,  and  she  overlooked  the  smallest 
details  of  the  imperial  household.  One  day  when  she 
expected  to  receive  some  ladies  of  the  legation  and  the 
throne  room  had  been  arranged  for  their  reception,  and  her 
majesty  and  the  princesses  were  already  assembled,  she, 
like  some  careful  New  England  housewife,  looking  around 
to  see  that  all  was  "proper"  noticed  some  dust  upon  a  piece 
of  furniture  and  promptly  ordered  a  silken  cloth  brought  to 
her,  with  which  she  herself  proceeded  to  dust,  not  only  that 
piece  but  several  others  saying,  "the  best  way  to  have  a 
thing  done  well  is  to  do  it  oneself!"  No  one  despises  labor 
in  China.     There  it  has  a  dignity  of  its  own. 


316  KATHARINE    A.    CARL 

Agriculture,  one  of  the  most  important  features  of  Chinese 
industry,  has  it  own  temple  where  the  Emperor  himself 
ofliciates.  In  the  early  spring  of  every  year  his  celestial 
majesty  himself  plowed  the  first  furrow  of  the  year!  It  was 
one  of  the  great  court  ceremonies!  The  plough  drawn  by 
an  ox  kept  in  the  palace  grounds  whose  toil  of  the  year  was 
confined  to  this  imperial  furrow,  with  the  Emperor  dressed 
in  his  robes  of  state  between  the  handles  of  the  plough 
guiding  it  with  all  seriousness  and  seeing  that  the  furrow  was 
straight  and  properly  deep.  The  imperial  princes  and  high- 
est officials  of  China  clothed  in  their  official  robes  following 
his  majesty's  footsteps!  And  I  can  say  I  never  saw  the 
Emperor  more  interested  than  the  day  I  accidentally  saw  this 
ceremony,  which  takes  place  in  the  palace  park  the  day 
before  the  public  ploughing  in  the  grounds  of  the  temple  of 
agriculture!  This  ploughing  by  the  Emperor  was  to  show 
the  agriculturists  of  China  the  nobility  of  their  work,  great 
enough  for  the  Son  of  Heaven  himself  to  perform!  The 
manufacture  of  silk,  the  rearing  of  the  cocoons  is  another 
great  industry  of  China,  and  the  title  of  Guardian  of  the 
Cocoons  was  a  coveted  honor,  bestowed  only  upon  the  prin- 
cesses of  the  imperial  clan.  Singing  and  dancing  which  we 
indulge  in  for  our  own  amusement  is  relegated  in  China,  to 
a  class  who  do  nothing  else.  The  Empress  Dowager  having 
received  a  new  grand  piano  while  I  was  in  the  palace  had 
me  and  the  JVIisses  Yu  Keng  try  it  for  her  one  day,  and  when 
I  played  a  waltz  she  asked  to  see  it  danced.  WTien  the 
Misses  Yu  Keng  danced  it  and  she  found  it  was  a  regular 
practice  among  the  Europeans,  to  do  their  own  dancing  she 
wondered  why  they  couldn't  get  dancers  to  do  it  for  them! 

i\Iusic.is  a  part  of  most  of  the  great  ceremonies  in  China, 
and  they  enjoy  the  singing  of  actresses  and  musicians,  but 
well  bred  people  consider  it  undignified  to  sing,  however, 
musical  they  may  be.  One  glorious  afternoon  when  we 
were  out  in  the  barge,  drawn  by  the  two  boats  of  rowers, 
over  the  lake,  all  abloom  with  gorgeous  pink  lotus,  past 
beautiful  bridges  and  the  quaintly  carved  marble  quays, 
the  radiance  of  the  setting  sun  glinting  with  added  gold  the 
upturned  yellow  roofs  on  the  shore,  the  Empress  Dowager 


THE   LATE   EMPRESS   DOWAGER   TZE-HSI  317 

sat  drinking  in  the  beauty  of  the  scene;  and  then,  to  the 
soft  accompaniment  of  the  rippling  water  and  the  swish  of 
the  oars  against  the  lotus  leaves,  she  began  to  sing,  in  a  low, 
but  perfectly  placed  voice,  a  soft  minor  song  so  charmingly 
and  with  such  artistic  grace,  I  could  not  help  murmuring 
"beautiful"  in  Chinese,  she  started  and  said,  "I  forgot  my- 
self. It  is  most  unbecoming  for  an  Empress  of  China  to 
sing,"  and  placing  her  hand  upon  my  hair  with  one  of  her 
graceful  half-caressing  gestures  she  continued.  "  N'ever 
mention  my  singing  to  any  one,  if  the  Shanghai  papers 
knew  it  there  would  be  a  pretty  row." 

Eight  months  later  we  were  again  at  the  summer  palace. 
One  lovely  evening  in  the  late  spring,  again  floating  in  the 
imperial  barge  on  the  lake — I  was  sitting  near  the  empress 
Dowager  as  before,  and  I  dared  ask  her  to  sing  again,  and 
she  did!  the  same  sweet  minor  song,  like  some  sweet  croon- 
ing lullaby!     It  was  charming. 

The  too  generally  accepted  idea  that  the  Empress  Dowager 
was  of  mean  origin  is  now,  thanks  to  the  larger  knowledge 
we  have  of  things  Chinese,  quite  exploded.  She  was  de- 
scended in  direct  hne  from  Nur-ha-chu  the  great  warrior 
prince,  whose  splendid  strategic  feats  led  to  the  conquest  of 
China  and  the  founding  of  the  Manchu  dynasty.  There 
were  three  other  Empresses  Dowager  in  her  family.  Her 
cousin  was  the  first  wife  of  Hsien-Fong  of  whom  the  late 
Empress  Dowager  became  the  fifth  wife.  She  belonged  to 
the  powerful  White  banner  clan. 

When  I  was  in  the  palace  I  heard  of  an  old  Manchu  pro- 
phecy dating  from  the  conquest  of  China,  that  when  "one 
of  the  White  banner-clan  attained  to  imperial  power  in 
China  it  would  be  the  end  dynasty."  Strange  to  say  the 
late  Empress  Dowager,  the  first  of  the  White  banner  to  wield 
imperial  power,  was  virtually  the  last  of  the  dynasty!  I 
have  often  thought  of  this  prophecy  during  the  past  year. 

As  I  have  said  before,  the  Empress  Dowager  seemed  to  me 
really  a  Chinese  patriot,  she  loved  China  as  did  few  of  the 
Chinese  themselves,  with  a  real  devotion.  I  used  to  say 
when  I  was  in  the  palace,  before  Chinese  patriotism  had 
been  fully  awakened,  that  she  was  the  only  Chinese  patriot 


318  KATHARINE    A.    CARL 

I  had  met!  She  believed  in  China,  she  cherished  the  noble 
deeds  of  the  rulers  of  all  its  other  dynasties,  she  gloried  in 
China's  acconiplishnients  in  the  past,  she  longed  to  bring 
back  its  brilliant  epochs.  She  was  profoundly  discouraged 
at  her  powerlessness  to  check  the  inroads  of  the  foreigners, 
at  her  inability  to  infuse  new  life  and  greater  effort  into  the 
Manchus.  She  hoped  by  inaugurating  a  representative 
government  to  increase  China's  power,  to  put  new  life  into 
the  go\-erning  element,  to  check  the  gangrene  of  official 
greed  which  was  sapping  the  life  of  the  government. 

Though  she  would  have  fought  to  the  last  to  retain  her 
power  and  assure  the  supremacy  of  her  clan  for  the  future, 
I  believe,  had  she  hved  to  see  this  pacific  revolution,  the 
noble  generosity  of  the  republicans  to  the  imperial  family, 
the  more  than  justice  they  have  shown  the  Manchus  in 
general ;  if  she  could  have  felt,  as  I  firmly  believe  her  broad 
mind  and  real  patriotism  was  capable  of  feeUng,  that  the 
republic,  brought  about  by  this  extraordinary  revolution 
was  what  China  needed  to  shake  her  from  her  long  lethargy ; 
I  think  the  Empress  Dowager  would  have  accepted  it  as  a 
happy  solution  of  the  great  problem  of  keeping  China's 
entity  intact,  and  establishing  a  nation  united  and  strong. 

However,  /  cannot  but  rejoice  that  she  was  borne  aloft 
in  the  Dragon  chariot  before  the  revolution  was  accom- 
plished! 


THE  MANCHU  CONQUEST  OF  CHINA 

By  F.  W.  Williams,  Assistant  Professor  of  Modern  Oriental 
History,   Yale  University 

The  expulsion  of  the  Tartar  dynasty  which  ruled  China 
for  two  centuries  and  a  half  has  excited  the  sympathetic 
approval  of  the  civilized  world.  That  dynasty  had  been 
tried  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting;  under  its  rule  the 
largest  and  potentially  the  richest  homogenous  empire  in 
the  world  had  been  reduced  to  impotence  by  foreign  powers, 
its  resources  neglected,  its  people  mistreated.  A  summary 
of  their  shortcomings  does  not,  however,  set  forth  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Manchu  conquest  of  China,  or  explain  the  re- 
markable nature  of  their  achievement.  To  estimate  their 
place  in  history  fairly  it  is  necessary  to  review  the  course 
of  that  conquest  and  consider  its  effect  upon  the  welfare 
of  the  people  whom  the  Manchus  inadvertently  rescued 
from  a  condition  bordering  upon  anarchy.  A  brief  account 
of  the  conquest  and  settlement  of  this  northern  race  is  all 
that  this  paper  contemplates.  The  expansion  of  China 
under  their  rule,  and  the  revived  prestige  of  a  mighty  na- 
tion acquired  from  the  exercise  of  a  higher  sense  of  racial 
control  than  the  Chinese  themselves  were  capable  of,  are 
subjects  belonging  to  another  chapter  of  this  story.  The 
decadence  of  the  Manchus — apparently  an  inevitable  result 
of  their  contact  with  a  higher  culture — should  not  blind  us 
to  the  extraordinary  success  of  their  great  performance. 

Nurhachu,  the  founder  of  the  high  fortune  of  this  clan, 
was  born  in  1559  in  Hutuala,  the  capital  of  a  small  prin- 
cipality among  the  Great  White  Mountains,  north  of  the 
Korean  border.  Here  his  ancestors  of  the  Aisin  Gioro 
(Golden  Dynasty)  had  ruled  for  two  centuries  from  the 
time  of  their  founders,  one  of  the  "Kings"  of  the  Niijen 
Tartars.  The  relationship  of  these  peoples  to  tlie  Kin  and 
other  Tartar  conquerors  of  northern  CJhina  in  the  Sung 

319 


320  F.    W.    WILLIAMS 

period  is  somewhat  obscure,  but  they  belong  to  the  same 
race  tliat  had  been  driven  from  China  by  the  Mongols  in 
the  thirteenth  century  and  relapsed  more  or  less  into  bar- 
barism in  the  wooded  mountains  between  the  Yalu  and 
Sungari  Rivers.  China  under  the  IMings  had  been  fairly 
successful  in  holding  them  to  the  east  of  the  Liao  Valley 
while  protecting  her  own  settlers  in  Laiotung  by  garrisons 
in  a  line  of  border  fortresses,  but  this  fertile  region  was 
often  harassed  by  bands  of  Tartar  robbers.  It  was  in  pur- 
suance of  the  characteristic  policy  of  setting  these  preda- 
tory gangs  upon  one  another  that  the  empire  finally  en- 
gendered the  genius  of  one  of  the  great  fighting  chiefs  of 
Asiatic  history  and  ultimately  brought  about  its  conquest 
by  his  successors. 

A  khan  of  one  of  these  tinj'-  septs  secured  the  help  of  the 
Chinese  frontier  guard  in  laying  siege  to  a  town  ruled  by 
a  man  who  had  married  the  granddaughter  of  Hiien,  chief- 
tain of  Hutuala,  Nurhachu's  grandfather.  The  old  man 
hastened  with  his  son  and  heir  to  assist  the  princess,  but 
being  decoyed  outside  of  the  walls  by  a  ruse  of  the  Chinese 
captain,  both  were  slain  together  with  most  of  the  garrison. 
Nurhachu  thus  became  the  head  of  his  house  at  the  age 
of  twenty-four.  The  Chinese  officer  appears  to  have  ex- 
ceeded his  instructions  by  embroiling  the  Bai,  or  Imperial 
Frontier  Count,  in  the  murder  of  these  clansmen,  and  Nur- 
hachu received  the  bodies  of  his  father  and  grandsire  as 
well  as  presents  of  considerable  value,  together  with  inves- 
titure in  his  chieftainship  and  the  title  of  Tu  tuh — the  same 
as  that  now  given  to  the  mihtary  governors  of  the  prov- 
inces. Instead,  however,  of  surrendering  the  murderer  of 
his  father  the  Chinese  made  him  lord  of  all  the  Manchu 
clans,  which  placed  the  young  chief  in  a  position  of  extreme 
danger  and  caused  him  to  devote  his  energies  to  attacking 
his  enemy  and  revenging  himself  upon  the  treacherous 
Chinese.  Three  years  later,  by  driUing  and  improving  his 
forces,  he  had  so  strengthened  his  position  that  the  Chinese 
thought  it  wise  to  deliver  up  his  enemy  Nikan  for  execu- 
tion, and  to  make  a  treaty  that  opened  better  trading  facili- 
ties to  his  people.     Next  year,  in  1587,  he  built  Laocheng 


THE  MANCHU  CONQUEST  OF  CHINA         321 

a  few  miles  from  his  ancestral  capital,  with  a  palace  and 
court  after  the  Chinese  manner,  and  governed  so  wisely  as 
to  bring  the  five  Manchu  clans  in  a  few  years  to  recognize 
him  as  king. 

From  this  time  to  the  end  of  his  reign  his  career  was  one 
long  succession  of  raids  and  conflicts  brought  about  by  the 
jealousy  of  his  neighbors  and  his  own  determination  to 
create  an  army  that  might  become  an  instrument  of  his 
vengeance  upon  the  Chinese.  As  a  fighting  chieftain  he 
developed  all  those  traits  of  elan,  endurance  and  personal 
bravery  that  are  common  enough  in  history  to  excite  no 
special  surprise.  He  had  the  qualities  of  a  Sivaji  or  a  Skan- 
derbeg,  and  these  alone  are  sufficient  to  account  for  his 
ultimate  conquest  of  people  of  his  own  kind  in  the  vast 
wilderness  between  the  Pacific,  the  Amur  and  the  Mongolian 
steppe,  roughly  half  a  million  square  miles.  What  arrests 
attention,  however,  is  the  extraordinary  capacity  revealed 
in  this  Berserker  fighter  for  the  administration  of  his  con- 
quests and  the  assimilation  of  the  sundry  tribes  within  the 
region.  The  prestige  of  his  victories  attracted  the  soldiers 
of  conquered  tribes,  who  learned  under  a  severe  but  gen- 
erous leader  the  advantages  of  discipline  and  union.  By 
1606  he  had  even  aroused  the  admiration  of  the  Mongols 
beyond  the  Lao,  whose  Beiras  sent  him  a  complimentary 
embassy.  Ten  years  later  he  had  assumed  the  style  of 
Tienming  in  his  new  capital  at  Hingking,  and  ruled  his 
domain  with  the  panoply  and  circumstance  of  a  Chinese 
emperor.  The  assumption  of  this  state  was  inevitably  re- 
garded as  a  challenge  by  the  Chinese,  whose  policy  it  had 
always  been  to  prevent  the  border  tribes  from  uniting,  and 
to  recognize  no  titles  among  them  that  were  not  bestowed 
by  the  Ming  suzerain.  But  Nurhachu  revealed  in  his  dar- 
ing plans  the  political  genius  which  has  been  a  character- 
istic of  his  race  in  all  ages,  and  which  European  observers 
have  too  often  ignored.  That  race  under  various  names 
has  impressed  us  with  its  fighting  powers,  its  endurance 
and  its  brutality;  we  have  not  recognized,  however,  its  abil- 
ity to  assimilate  and  control  its  conciucrcd  sul)jects  by 
methods  which,  barbarous  and  imperfect  as  they  may  some- 


322  F.    W.    WILLIAMS 

times  appear,  have,  duiiiiji;  the  period  of  the  Christian  era 
wrenched  tlie  governnieiit  of  every  civilized  Asiatic  state 
from  its  own  people  and  governed  them  on  the  whole  with 
adxantage.  As  Parthians,  Mamluks,  Mongols,  Seljuk  and 
Ottoman  Turks,  to  leave  the  lesser  breeds  unnamed,  the 
distant  congeners  of  the  Manchus  have  not  only  invaded 
but  repeatedly  controlled  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the 
continent.  The  history  of  China  cannot  be  properly  under- 
stood unless  due  notice  is  taken  of  the  impact  of  her  north- 
ern neighbors  from  the  period  of  the  great  Ch'in  to  recent 
times,  nor  can  we  afford  to  neglect  the  fact  that  her  own 
great  dynasties  and  governing  element  have  come  from 
those  northern  provinces  which  are  chiefly  peopled  by  de- 
scendants of  a  Tartar-Chinese  intermixture. 

Nurhachu,  though  he  never  entered  China,  stands  as  an 
exponent  of  the  highest  qualities  of  his  race,  a  creative 
genius  not  only  in  strategy  but  in  politics,  the  founder  of 
a  great  tradition  capably  maintained  for  two  centuries  by 
his  descendants,  the  establisher  of  a  line  of  monarchs  which 
have  been  surpassed  by  no  other  ruling  house  during  an 
equal  period  in  China. 

The  Chinese  had  reason  for  serious  apprehension  if  Nur- 
hachu succeeded  in  his  purpose  of  reducing  all  the  Tartar 
clans  to  his  way.  He  had  left  them  in  no  doubt  as  to 
his  intention,  when  this  was  accomplished,  of  driving  them 
behind  the  Great  Wall,  and  in  1617  he  published  an  open 
defiance  to  them  by  drawing  up  and  burning  with  sacri- 
ficial ceremonies  a  document  known  as  the  ''Seven  Hates," 
including  amongst  the  charges  their  murder  of  his  parents, 
their  interference  with  Manchu  autonomy,  their  assistance 
rendered  to  his  enemies,  their  assassination  of  an  envoy 
and  harassing  of  his  farmers — ''for  all  of  which,"  he  con- 
cludes, "I  hate  you  with  an  intense  hatred  and  now  make 
war  against  you."  They  took  him  at  his  word,  for  while 
engaged,  in  1619,  in  a  war  with  the  last  of  the  Niijen  states 
that  continued  to  resist  him,  a  Chinese  army  of  200,000 
was  assembled  at  Mukden  and  marched  in  four  divisions 
against  the  little  state  of  Hingking.  With  only  60,000  men 
he  proceeded,  by  the  same  tactics  that  Napoleon  employed, 


THE  MANCHU  CONQUEST  OF  CHINA         323 

to  attack  each  of  these  divisions  with  his  whole  force  before 
assistance  could  be  got  from  the  others.  The  result  of  the 
five  days'  battle,  known  as  that  of  Sahu,  was  a  complete 
and  extraordinary  victory  for  the  Manchus  and  the  anni- 
hilation of  the  Chinese  army,  with  a  loss  of  45,000  men  slain 
on  the  field.  Yet,  though  his  success  secured  for  him  un- 
questioned authority  over  the  Niijen  tribes  that  had  held 
out  against  him,  the  Chinese  troops  soon  recovered  their 
morale  under  an  able  general,  who  fortified  the  towns  of 
Liaotung  so  successfully  that  for  two  years  Nurhachu  did 
not  venture  to  attack  him.  The  bravery  of  the  Chinese 
is  noticeable  throughout  these  campaigns.  What  defeated 
them  ultimately  was  the  removal  of  energetic  generals  and 
the  unconscionable  turpitude  of  the  eunuch  control  under 
which  the  Peking  government  had  fallen.  In  1621  Mukden 
and  Liaoyang  with  seventy  walled  cities  were  captured  and 
the  Manchus  for  the  first  time  established  in  control  of  the 
whole  territory  which  foreigners  have  ever  since  called  by 
their  name.  The  Chinese  never  gave  up  the  contest,  but 
they  were  badly  led  by  dull  and  cowardly  generals  sent  by 
the  palace  politicians.  Nevertheless  the  resistance  was  al- 
ways determined.  They  lost  the  country  west  of  the  Liao 
down  to  the  Great  Wall,  but  regained  most  of  it  within 
four  years  under  a  competent  leader  called  Sun  Cheng- 
tsung,  who  fortified  Shanhai  kwan  and  Ning}iien.  It  was 
in  1625,  during  this  period  when  his  military  advance  was 
checked,  that  Nurhachu  removed  his  palace  from  Liaoyang 
to  Mukden — his  sixth  capital — and  built  the  imperial  head- 
quarters which  the  dynasty  has  ever  since  regarded  as  its 
home.  The  transfer  of  the  administration  from  the  orig- 
inal tribal  valley  to  this  thickly  settled  Chinese  plain  was 
attended  by  a  fuller  adjustment  of  his  government  to  the 
Chinese  system  and  by  an  imitation  of  Ming  ceremonial  at 
his  court.  It  was  as  natural  for  tlie  i)rinces  to  be  educated 
in  Chinese  letters  as  it  was  for  the  Frankish  princes  to  write 
Latin.  Chinese  culture  was  the  only  culture  known  to  their 
world,  and  it  was  impossible  for  a  sovereign  in  eastern  Asia 
to  set  up  his  rule  upon  any  other  model  or  to  hope  for 
acceptance  by  civilized  subjects  unless  he  adopted  their 


324  F.    "W.    WILLIAMS 

institutions.  The  Mongols  had  done  so,  and  before  the 
i\Iou«2;ol8  ovorv  uorthoru  conqueror  in  China  since  China 
bo^au  to  bo. 

But  what  the  Mongols  learned  of  Chinese  methods 
during  a  half  century  of  conflict,  the  Manchu  acquired  in 
pursuing  Nurhachu's  sensible  policy  of  providing  several 
millions  of  Chinese  settlers  in  the  Liao  Valley  with  the  gov- 
ernment to  which  they  were  accustomed,  and  habituating 
their  own  clansmen  to  the  language  and  order  of  a  finer  cul- 
ture than  their  own.  It  was  this  policy  and  their  consistent 
recognition  of  a  superior  system  that  enabled  the  Manchus 
to  retain  their  hold  upon  China  after  they  had  effected  their 
conquest.  The  conquest  itself,  it  will  be  observed,  was  a 
long  struggle  carried  on  chiefly  through  the  agency  of  Chi- 
nese against  Chinese  until  the  country  was  too  exhausted  to 
offer  further  resistance  to  the  forces  that  stood  for  order. 
At  no  time  did  the  conquerors  show  superior  generalship 
or  valor;  in  numbers  their  own  fighting  men  were  always 
vastly  nferior  to  the  Chinese;  in  intellectual  power  they 
were  never  their  equals.  Yet  they  succeeded  through  sheer 
force  of  character,  as  the  Ottomans  have  succeeded  during 
a  much  longer  period  in  western  Asia,  in  dominating  a 
people  that  were  superior  to  them  in  every  important  qual- 
ity except  that  of  leadership. 

Nurhachu  met  his  first  and  only  serious  check  in  attempt- 
ing the  capture  of  Ning^iien,  which  was  defended  by  a  good 
general  and  by  cannon  cast  by  Jesuit  missionaries.  He 
died  soon  after  this,  in  September,  1626,  and  was  buried 
in  the  great  tomb  outside  of  Mukden,  which  is  still  shown 
to  travelers.  In  accordance  with  Chinese  custom  his  per- 
sonal name  had  been  replaced  by  the  reign  title  of  Tien- 
ming  in  1616,  when  he  assumed  the  dignity  of  emperor. 
After  the  accession  of  his  grandson  to  the  throne  in  Peking 
he  was  given  the  title  of  Taitsu,  or  Great  Ancestor,  by 
which  he  is  known  in  imperial  histories. 

His  successor,  a  fourth  son  known  as  Taitsung,  appears 
to  have  been  loyally  supported  by  numerous  brothers  in 
taking  up  the  arduous  work  of  carving  out  a  kingdom  and 
pressing  down  upon  China.     The  defense  of  the  lower  Liao 


THE  MANCHU  CONQUEST  OF  CHINA         325 

was,  however,  maintained  with  much  persistence  by  the 
Chinese,  despite  the  corruption  and  divided  councils  of  the 
Ming  government,  that  his  way  to  the  capital  remained 
closed,  owing  chiefly  to  the  obstinate  resistance  of  the  two 
strong  fortresses  of  Ningyuen  and  Shanhai  kwan.  While  he 
cannot  be  granted  the  supreme  place  in  the  fortunes  of  his 
family  that  belongs  to  Nurhachu,  the  task  bequeathed  to 
him  of  advancing  those  fortunes  beyond  the  ancestral  do- 
main was  hardly  less  difficult  than  that  of  winning  its  inde- 
pendence. His  first  achievement,  the  conquest  of  northern 
Korea,  whose  loyalty  to  the  Ming  suzerain  necessitated  its 
punishment  to  secure  his  southern  frontier,  was  completed 
in  1627.  His  other  neighbors,  the  Mongols,  presented  a  far 
more  serious  problem,  but  within  ten  years,  between  1626 
and  1636,  by  a  series  of  expeditions  and  negotiations,  he 
had  succeeded  in  practically  incorporating  Kortsin  into  his 
own  domain  and  obtaining  the  suzerainty  and  tribute  of 
all  inner  Mongolia.  Besides  the  obvious  strategic  necessity 
of  thus  solidifying  his  own  boundaries  the  control  of  Alon- 
golia  permitted  him  to  raid  the  whole  northern  tier  of  Chi- 
nese provinces  across  that  vast  border  which  has  ever  been 
a  source  of  their  apprehension  since  the  beginning  of  re- 
corded history.  A  great  excursion  in  force  was  made  in 
1621)  to  the  city  of  Peking  itself,  where  the  terrified  court 
was  besieged  for  some  weeks  and  the  country  around  laid 
waste,  but  the  Chinese  general  with  his  army  brought  down 
from  Shanhai  kwan  was  able  to  prevent  an  assault  and  the 
capital  was  saved. 

Taitsung  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- two  in  September,  1643, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  ninth  son,  a  child  of  five,  while 
the  control  of  the  Manchu  dynasty  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  boy's  uncle  Dorgun.  It  was  a  critical  moment  in 
the  career  of  that  dynasty,  for  dissension  amongst  the  many 
able  and  aspiring  sons  of  Nurhachu  would  have  involved 
its  ruin  had  a  struggle  amongst  them  for  the  succession  be- 
gun. By  continuing  the  line  in  accordance  with  prescribed 
Chinese  custom,  in  the  person  of  a  heir  of  the  next  gen- 
eration, the  internal  peace  of  the  warlike  band  was  pre- 
served while  their  activity  found  ample  scope  in  the  sudden 


326  F.    W.    WILLIAMS 

and  enormous  expansion  of  their  emprise  in  the  conquest 
of  China. 

Meanwhile  the  internal  condition  of  the  Chinese  empire 
had  become  desperate  under  a  long  series  of  famines  and 
rebellions  which  had  utterly  paralyzed  its  economic  re- 
sources and  brought  about  a  general  anarch}^  It  is  impos- 
sible to  decide  whether  under  such  loosely  organized  agen- 
cies as  that  of  China  the  general  prevalence  of  distress  is 
a  cause  or  a  consequence  of  political  disturbance.  WTien 
thickly  populous  agricultural  communities  are  reduced  to 
starvation  the  people  will  inevitably  break  up  into  robber 
bands  and  prey  upon  each  other  to  the  confusion  of  all 
civil  administration.  No  government  can  reduce  the  dis- 
order unless  provisions  can  be  obtained  to  satisfy  the  needs 
of  those  made  desperate  by  want;  but  a  bad  government 
may  by  its  inefficiency  aggravate  the  starving  people  and 
succumb  to  the  forces  of  disruption  thus  let  loose.  It  is 
notable  that  in  the  history  of  China  no  great  upheaval  has 
occurred  without  its  concomitant  of  famine.  In  the  third 
decade  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  northern  provinces 
were  \'isited  by  an  unusually  severe  drought  which  was  so 
badly  met  by  venal  officials  that  multitudes  took  to  the 
mountains  and  attacked  the  roads  and  villages.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  natural  causes  weakening  authority  in  an  im- 
perfectly articulated  domain,  increased  taxation  and  recur- 
ring levies  of  troops  to  meet  the  Manchus  began  in  1621 
to  arouse  angry  opposition  in  the  western  provinces.  Re- 
volts broke  out  which  were  painfully  and  only  partly  sub- 
dued. By  1631  the  robber  bands  throughout  all  the  inland 
provinces  had  swelled  to  great  armies  under  redoubtable 
captains,  whose  successes  encouraged  the  able-bodied  to  en- 
list under  their  banners  and  live  upon  the  spoil  of  captured 
cities.  At  the  end  of  another  decade  Li  Tsu-cheng,  a  Shansi 
leader,  after  many  vicissitudes,  had  become  the  greatest  of 
them  all,  and  with  an  army  composed  of  nearly  a  million 
needy  adventurers  he  was  swarming,  in  1641,  over  the  fam- 
ine-stricken province  of  Honan  toward  Peking.  Despite  the 
impotence  of  the  imperial  government  in  this  score  of  years 
of  carnage  it  is  remarkable  that  the  various  rebel  armies 


THE   MANCHU   CONQUEST  OF   CHINA  327 

met  with  obstinate  resistance  in  many  cities.  There  was 
no  systematic  opposition,  yet  owing  to  the  indomitable 
spirit  in  defending  their  own  which  characterizes  the  Chi- 
nese people,  as  well  as  to  the  lack  of  organization  among  the 
rebels,  the  agony  was  long  continued.  The  contrast  be- 
tween the  Chinese  rebel  Li  and  the  Manchu  Nurhachu  is 
suggestive  as  typical  of  the  differing  genius  of  the  two  races. 
It  has  often  been  said  that  the  Chinese  were  conquered 
because  they  were  unwarlike.  They  showed,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  persistent  fighting  eagerness  both  before  and  after 
the  Manchu  irruption  that  ranks  them  among  the  martial 
people  of  the  world.  They  failed  both  in  rebellion  and  in 
defense  because  they  could  produce  no  leader  capable  of 
consolidating  and  fixing  an  orderly  system  of  control.  The 
Manchus  succeeded,  though  they  had  to  borrow  and  adapt 
the  system  of  their  enemy,  because  they  know  how  to  make 
themselves  obeyed. 

Peking  was  surrounded  by  the  rebel  host  in  February, 
1644,  and  fell  through  sheer  cowardice  on  the  part  of  its 
defenders,  lost  to  all  sense  of  loyalty  and  shame  through 
generations  of  eunuch  control.  The  last  of  the  Ming  em- 
perors, incapable  to  the  end  of  any  resolute  action,  com- 
mitted suicide  as  the  rebels  poured  over  the  deserted  walls, 
and  the  city  and  palace — perhaps  the  richest  storehouse  of 
valuables  at  that  time  in  the  world — was  given  over  to 
slaughter  and  pillage.  Li  put  on  the  imperial  yellow  and 
reigned  for  one  day  in  the  palace,  when  he  was  called  away 
to  the  north  by  a  sudden  and  unexpected  danger.  Wu 
San-kwei,  the  ablest  Chinese  general  that  the  herculean 
struggle  against  the  Tartars  had  produced,  preferring  a 
Manchu  Hwangti  to  a  rebel  upstart,  called  upon  Dorgun 
to  join  him  in  avenging  his  dead  sovereign.  The  Manchu 
army  was  hurried  down  to  Shanhai  kwan,  Wu  and  his  army 
were  constrained  to  shave  the  forehead  and  adopt  the  Tar- 
tar queue,  and  preparations  made  for  an  advance  upon  the 
capital.  But  Li,  who  knew  the  value  of  keeping  the  aggres- 
sive, was  upon  them  with  his  great  host  ere  their  forces 
had  left  the  Wall.  His  defeat  in  the  terrific  battle  that 
ensued  before  Shanhai  kwan  was  due,  it  would  appear,  to 


328  F.    W.    WILLIAMS 

his  carelessness  in  scouting,  for,  unaware  of  the  Manchus 
drawn  up  among  the  hills  on  his  flank,  the  rebels  were  dis- 
concerted by  their  sudtlcn  ad\ance  just  as  they  were  wear- 
ing out  Wu's  trooj)s  by  mere  weight  of  numbers.  Their 
route  was  followed  up  by  Wu,  while  Dorgun  and  his  sol- 
diers hurried  on  to  the  dismantled  capital.  He  placed  his 
nephew  the  Emperor  Shunchih  upon  the  Dragon  Throne, 
remo\'ing  the  seat  of  his  government  from  Mukden  as  soon 
as  the  devastation  of  the  rebel  Li  could  be  repaired. 

But  possession  of  the  capital  was  far  from  giving  the  new 
dynasty  control  of  the  empire.  China  continued  for  nearly 
a  score  of  j^ears  in  armed  revolt  against  her  foreign  con- 
querors, whose  unity  and  steadfast  policy,  rather  than  any 
proficiency  in  arms,  at  length  brought  them  victory.  At 
the  outset  of  this  obstinate  struggle  the  odds  were  enor- 
mously against  them.  The  resources  of  the  natives  in  men 
and  materials  were  greatly  superior  to  their  own ;  their  base, 
the  Yellow  River  basin  and  the  Great  Plain,  had  been  rav- 
aged b}'  years  of  famine  and  rebellion  from  which  the  south- 
ern provinces  had  suffered  but  little;  loyalty  to  the  Ming 
dynasty,  despite  its  abuses,  still  inspired  the  educated  class 
everywhere;  and  finall}^,  the  elements  of  disorder  long  since 
set  loose  under  the  robber  rebellion  gave  free  vent  to  that 
centrifugal  tendency  within  the  vast  empire  which  has  ever 
disposed  its  various  provinces  to  fall  apart,  when  opportuni- 
ties offered,  into  separate  governments  under  local  adventur- 
ers. Had  the  fallen  dynasty  produced  one  resolute  master 
of  men  capable  of  choosing  and  controlling  his  ministers  it 
could  at  least  have  held  the  land  south  of  the  Yangtse  and 
divided  China  into  two  kingdoms  as  in  the  days  of  the 
Sung.  But  China  seemed  to  be  impotent  in  begetting  a 
single  administrator  worthy  of  the  name;  she  fell  at  last 
under  the  domination  of  an  inferior  race  because  the  genius 
of  her  people  v/as  unable  to  meet  the  first  requirement  of 
a  true  national  life.  Whether  this  failure  was  due  to  de- 
terioration of  moral  fiber,  the  result  of  a  civilization  grown 
too  old  to  revive,  the  future  alone  will  show. 

The  jManchu  regent  found  his  first  great  work  at  hand 
in  setting  up  the  machinery  of  government  in  Peking  and 


THE  MANCHU  CONQUEST  OF  CHINA         329 

restoring  order  in  two  of  the  "home  provinces,"  Shansi  and 
Honan;  the  other,  Shantung,  dispersed  Li's  rebel  officials 
but  remained  for  some  time  loyal  to  the  Aling  claimant. 
Li  Tsu-cheng  himself  had  to  be  pursued  by  Wu  San-kwei 
and  defeated  in  eight  great  battles  during  eighteen  months 
before  he  ended  his  own  life,  a  discredited  fugitive  in  Hupeh. 
Dorgim  very  shrewdly  proclaimed  amnesty  to  all  who  would 
acknowledge  his  authority,  and  their  old  titles  and  emolu- 
ments to  members  of  the  old  imperial  household,  even  re- 
storing the  Ming  tombs  west  of  Peking  and  sacrificing  to 
the  manes  of  their  former  emperors.  Many  accepted  his 
terms,  but  the  family  was  large  and  produced  a  succession 
of  futile  aspirants  to  the  throne — names  to  conjure  with 
amongst  a  proud  and  loyal  people,  but  all  alike  cowardly 
and  trivial,  unworthy  even  of  sympathy  in  the  disasters 
which  infallibly  crowned  their  recalcitrance.  Five  of  these 
deserve  mention  for  the  trouble  they  created.  A  grandson 
of  the  famous  old  Emperor  Wanli,  known  by  his  title  of 
Fu  Wang,  was  promptly  recognized  as  emperor  in  the  Yangtse 
and  coast  provinces,  and  established  in  Nanking,  the  orig- 
inal capital  of  his  dynasty  A  victim  of  the  weakness 
which  marked  all  the  degenerates  of  that  dynasty,  he  gave 
his  days  to  dancing  girls  and  the  business  of  restoring  its 
fortune  to  one  Ma  Shu-ying,  perhaps  the  most  rapacious 
and  unprincipled  monster  of  these  distressful  times,  ignoring 
the  advice  and  devotion  of  his  minister  Shu  Ko-fa,  a  noble 
contrast  to  the  favorite.  Shantung,  deserted  by  Ming  in- 
competency, was  promptly  subdued,  and  Nanking  capitu- 
lated after  the  flight  and  surrender  of  the  pretender.  About 
the  same  time  another  army  conquered  Hupeh  province, 
and  Manchu  supremacy  obtained  throughout  the  country 
north  of  the  Yangtse.  Had  it  not  involved  the  compul- 
sory change  of  head-dress  to  the  plaited  queue,  that  suprem- 
acy might  have  been  supported  with  less  contumacy  on  the 
part  of  the  Chinese.  The  ordinance  was  enforced  with 
vigor,  presumably  because  the  Manchus  found  it  necessary 
amid  frequent  defections  to  insist  upon  some  visil)le  sign 
of  submission  among  the  natives,  but  the  imposition  of 
such  a  test  upon  a  vain  and  self-sufficient   )eople  like  the 


330  F.    W.    WILLIAMS 

Chinese  reveals  their  incapacity  to  understand  the  mind 
of  a  more  subtle  race  when  its  amour  propre  is  concerned. 

The  second  pretender,  called  the  Tang  Wang,  once  a 
]VIing  prince  of  Nanyang,  found  temporary  support  in 
Kiangsi  and  Fuhkien,  but  it  melted  away  through  the  per- 
fidy and  incompetence  of  his  generals.  His  brother  Yii 
Ngao  established  the  imperial  pageant  in  Canton  after  his 
destruction  in  December,  1646,  but  the  city  was  soon  cap- 
tured by  a  surprise  and  he  killed  himself  in  the  presence 
of  the  Chinese  traitor  who  made  him  prisoner.  A  fourth 
Ming,  known  as  the  Lu  Wang,  had  ere  this  set  up  as  an 
opposition  emperor  in  Chehkiang,  where,  partly  through 
the  assistance  of  pirates,  he  regained  all  of  Fuhkien  between 
1648  and  1650;  but  he  fell  foul  of  Koxinga's  ambitions  and 
was  drowned  in  1653  at  Amoy.  The  last  aspirant  for  Ming 
leadership,  Yowliang  the  Kwei  Wang,  a  great-grandson  of 
Wanli,  was  proclaimed  emperor  in  Kwangsi  as  a  rival  of 
Yii  Ngao  He  was  utterly  worthless,  like  the  rest,  but  the 
strength  of  Chinese  hostility  to  the  Manchus  was  revealed 
in  1648,  when  after  being  chased  into  Yunnan,  a  sudden 
resurgence  of  opposition  throughout  the  whole  of  China 
swept  the  seven  southern  provinces  and  Szchuen  under  his 
allegiance,  and  the  Regent  was  confronted  with  the  task 
of  reconquering  the  greater  portion  of  the  empire.  To  add 
to  his  difficulties  a  famine  again  exhausted  the  north,  the 
IVIongols  got  out  of  hand  and  raided  over  the  Wall,  the 
Mohammedans  rose  in  Kansuh,  and  bandits  swarmed  in 
every  province.  In  this  new  crisis  of  their  affairs  the  daunt- 
less Wu  San-kwei  was  given  the  chief  command,  and  very 
slowly  the  ^ling  supporters  were  pushed  back  by  their  own 
countrymen  until  the  cowardly  Kwei  Wang  fled  over  the 
Yunnan  border  into  Burma,  to  be  surrendered  in  1661  by 
the  Burmese  and  die  by  his  own  hand  a  captive  of  the  great 
general. 

The  year  1661  marks  the  first  lull  in  the  secular  resist- 
ance of  China  to  the  imposition  of  foreign  rule.  The  coun- 
try was  conquered  but  not  convinced.  In  the  general 
wreckage  of  seventeen  years  of  war  it  had  exhausted  its 
resources  without  developing  a  commander  fit  to  excite  an 


THE  MANCHU  CONQUEST  OF  CHINA         331 

enduring  loyalty  or  unite  the  diverse  desires  of  different 
sections.  Under  the  apathy  that  ensued  after  this  bitter 
experience  the  ]\Ianchus  very  prudently  encouraged  recon- 
struction by  appointing  Chinese  officials  chosen  according 
to  the  ancient  tests  throughout  the  empire,  and  China  re- 
turned sensibly  though  sullenly  to  her  age-old  life  of  toil 
under  her  new  masters.  Ten  years  before  this  date  Dorgun 
the  Regent  had  died,  leaving  Shunchi  to  direct  the  imperial 
policy  in  person  at  the  age  of  twelve.  We  do  not  hear 
much  of  his  intellectual  endowments,  but  he  had  been 
nurtured  in  a  household  of  sturdy  kinsmen  and  he  must 
have  matured  early  to  have  employed  his  talents  success- 
fully at  this  age.  He  did  in  1661  in  his  twenty-fourth 
year,  leaving  the  empire  to  a  son  eight  years  old  whose 
reign  name  Kanghsi  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in  Chinese 
history. 

The  Manchus  were  not  ungrateful  to  the  Chinese  gen- 
erals who  had  enabled  them  to  win  an  empire.  Wu  San- 
kwei,  whose  pursuit  of  the  Kwei  Wang  had  completed  the 
crowning  performance  of  that  great  conquest,  was  given 
the  title  of  prince  and  made  absolute  lord  of  the  two  prov- 
inces of  Yunnan  and  Kweichow,  with  his  own  army  and 
entire  control  of  the  civil  appointments  and  revenues  of  the 
territory.  Two  other  generals,  both  Liaotung  men,  were 
in  like  manner  created  princes  of  the  maritime  provinces 
of  Kwangtung  and  Fuhkien,  from  which,  as  from  Wu's 
domain,  all  the  Manchu  soldiery  was  withdrawn.  Judged 
by  the  event  this  method  of  rewarding  their  services  seems 
imprudent,  but  amid  the  multitude  of  traitors  that  must 
have  made  China  appear  to  these  Tartars  as  infected  with 
perjury,  these  men  had  resisted  the  temptations  to  which 
others  had  succumbed  and  remained  loyal  to  the  end.  Their 
honors  were  awarded  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of 
their  efforts.  But  Prince  Wu,  either  because  he  wearied  of 
his  sovereign  state  in  a  remote  province,  or  because  he  was 
apprehensive  of  the  imperial  plans  to  reduce  his  army,  after 
accumulating  stores  and  revenues  revolted  in  1674,  soon 
after  the  young  Kanghsi  had  assumed  control  of  the  gov- 
ernment.    With  him  arose  also  the  Prince  Kung  of  Fuhkien ; 


332  F.    W.    WILLIAMS 

and  in  a  few  weeks  the  empire  was  once  more  ablaze  with 
insurrection,  officials  everywhere  surrendering  their  cities 
and  tlie  people  gladly  removing  their  queues.  SLx  provinces 
turned  against  their  Manchu  masters;  a  seventh,  Kwang- 
tung,  remained  neutral  because  its  old  Prince,  Shang  Ko-si 
was  loyal,  but  his  son  Chu-sin,  a  drunkard,  accepted  the 
title  of  Great  Commander  from  Wu,  assumed  the  old  Chi- 
nese headdress  and  made  his  aged  father  a  prisoner.  The 
latter  died  in  1676,  and  Chu-sin,  rather  alarmed  at  Wu's 
attitude  toward  him,  made  his  peace  with  Kanghsi.  The 
other  rebel  prince  (of  Fuhkien)  after  some  serious  fighting, 
was  pardoned  and  re-employed  by  the  Manchus  in  1677, 
but  was  subsequently  executed  in  Peking,  a  fitting  end  for 
his  cruelty  and  crimes.  The  defection  of  these  coast  prov- 
inces, though  badly  led,  was  heartily  endorsed  by  their 
inhabitants  whose  hatred  of  the  Manchus  has  never  much 
abated,  and  a  considerable  Manchu  army  had  to  be  em- 
ployed in  bringing  them  to  order.  Wu  San-kwei  raged  up 
and  down  the  western  provinces,  where  his  armies  at  one 
time  had  possession  of  Shensi  and  even  threatened  Peking. 
So  long  as  he  lived  there  seemed  to  be  a  magic  in  the  old 
warrior's  name  that  paralyzed  the  troops  brought  against 
him.  All  his  campaigning  was  carried  on  in  the  enemy's 
country,  and  though  he  was  presently  driven  out  of  Shensi 
and  the  two  Kwang,  he  died  holding  his  own  in  Hunan, 
while  none  dared  to  attack  his  base  in  the  southwest.  Dur- 
ing four  years  this  indefatigable  fighter  had  wrenched  nearly 
half  of  China  from  Manchu  control  and  maintained  his 
upstart  government  upon  the  resources  of  the  least  produc- 
tive portion  of  the  empire.  Kanghsi,  who  inherited  the 
physical  vigor  of  his  great  ancestors,  was  with  difficulty 
dissuaded  from  taking  charge  of  the  campaign  against  this 
formidable  rival  in  person.  His  counsellors  were  probably 
justified  in  their  fears  of  losing  Peking  in  an  emeute  if  he 
left  the  capital,  but  his  resolution  in  the  crisis  and  the  re- 
sources at  his  command — chiefly  in  the  better  fighting  qual- 
ities of  the  Mongols  and  northern  Chinese  troops — eventu- 
ally achieved  a  hard-earned  victory  over  all  his  foes  in  1681. 
Wu  had  succumbed  to  an  illness  in  1678;  his  grandson  and 


THE   MANCHU   CONQUEST   OF   CHINA  333 

successor,  Shu-fan,  was  beheaded  upon  the  fall  of  his  capi- 
tal Yunnan,  and  his  head  hung  upon  one  of  the  city  gates 
of  Peking.  The  rebellion  had  failed,  and  the  emperor  could 
congratulate  himself  that  he  had  accomplished  what  was 
necessary  for  establishing  his  autocracy,  the  disarming  of 
the  vassal  princes.  So  long  as  they  retained  their  heredi- 
tary powers  the  Manchu  was  little  more  than  the  feudal 
suzerain  of  China.  Their  revolt  was  a  declaration  of  the 
right  of  the  Chinese  to  rule  themselves,  and  in  this  sense 
these  eight  years  were  the  concluding  act  in  the  bloody 
drama  begun  in  1644.  To  insure  the  future  Kanghsi  abol- 
ished the  title  of  Wang  except  as  bestowed  upon  members 
of  the  imperial  clan,  nor  was  it  made  hereditary  even 
amongst  these. 

In  the  settlement  of  the  country  Manchu  troops  were  quar- 
tered in  permanent  garrisons  in  a  score  of  the  more  impor- 
tant cities  of  the  empu-e.  These  "bannermen"  were  for- 
bidden to  intermarry  with  the  Chinese  or  to  engage  in  any 
occupation  except  that  of  arms.  So  long  as  these  warriors 
were  regularly  exercised  in  their  profession  under  the  great 
military  emperors,  chasing  bandits  or  campaigning  in  Cen- 
tral Asia,  they  remained  a  valid  defence  to  the  throne.  But 
they  never  constituted  an  important  element  in  the  forces 
of  the  empire.^  In  later  times,  becoming  utterly  demoral- 
ized through  inaction,  compelled  to  remain  aliens  in  spirit 
as  well  as  in  race  to  the  industrious  Chinese  who  surrounded 
them  and  to  whom  they  represented  the  yoke  of  a  foreign 
master,  they  sank  into  forlorn  and  useless  drones  whose 
descendants  were  the  first  victims  of  the  Chinese  revolution 
of  1911.  This  was  Kanghsi's  reply  to  the  intransigeants  of 
China.  He  was  logical,  perhaps,  but  time,  a  profounder 
logician,  proved  it  to  be  fallacious.  The  conquest  had  not 
in  reality  been  effected  by  Manchu  braves  or  even  by  Man- 
chu wisdom,  nor  could  the  Manchus  ever  retain  their  hold 
upon  China  merely  by  the  valor  of  their  men.     Their  at- 

'  In  Chienlung's  reign  there  were  45,500  Manchu  banncrinen  diaposed 
in  twenty  towns  of  China  Proper,  8,750  near  Poking  and  15,0(X)  in  eight 
garrisons  in  Turkestan,  besides  about  I0f),000  guarding  the  imperial  pahiee. 
The  total  Chinese  army  was  GGli,00O,  besides  700,000  provincial  troops. 


334  F.    W.    WILIJAMS 

tack  was  begun  at  an  opportune  moment,  when  a  long 
period  of  Ming  misrule  and  her  reduced  vitality  had  so  dis- 
tracted China  as  to  admit  of  lier  capital  being  taken  by  a 
coup  dc  main.  Tlie  importance  of  Nurhachu's  work  of 
training  and  preparation  was  fully  revealed  in  this  initial 
success  and  in  the  admirable  temper  of  his  successors,  as 
they  emplo3^ed  all  the  factors  in  their  favor  while  pushing 
the  conquest  through  to  an  end.  But  these  factors  were 
for  the  most  part  Chinese:  the  hopeless  incapacity  of  the 
i\Iing  pretenders,  the  willingness  of  the  Chinese  to  fight  for 
the  foreigners,  the  schisms  that  separated  north  from  south, 
faction  from  faction,  province  from  province,  the  indomita- 
ble fortitude  of  a  courageous  people  when  once  enlisted  in 
their  cause.  It  was  the  Chinese  themselves  who  completed 
the  conquest  of  China  for  the  Manchus;  it  was  the  Chinese 
who  suffered  them  to  rule  because  they  adopted  their  cul- 
ture and  institutions  and  took  the  natives  into  partnership 
in  the  management  of  the  empire.  No  disposition  of  Man- 
chu  garrisons  at  strategic  centers  could  have  long  upheld 
that  rule  or  prevented  insurrections  had  the  Tartars  de- 
parted from  their  policy  and  managed  their  great  estate 
selfishly.  And  who  shall  say  that  those  who,  for  fear  or 
favor,  cast  their  lot  with  the  Manchus  decided  unwisely  for 
their  country?  The  sovereigns  of  China  never  had  a  broad- 
er sense  of  empu'e  or  a  clearer  idea  of  the  physical  confines 
and  defences  of  that  empire  than  under  Kanghsi,  the  great- 
est of  her  modern  emperors,  whose  expansion  of  her  boun- 
daries and  increase  of  her  prestige  made  her  a  greater  power 
than  ever  before  and  strong  enough  to  save  her  from  sub- 
jugation by  the  predatory  states  of  a  newly  awakened 
Europe. 


SOME  EXPERIENCES  AT  THE  SIEGE  OF  NANKING 
DURING  THE  REVOLUTION 

By  C.  Voonping  Yui,  M.D.,  of  the  Chinese  Red  Cross  Society 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  relate  my  experiences  in 
Nanking  last  year  while  I  was  doing  Red  Cross  work.  The 
outbreak  of  the  revolution  started  at  Wuchang  in  the  cen- 
tral part  of  China  on  the  tenth  of  October,  1911.  In  a 
short  period  of  time,  Hankow,  Hangyang  and  Wuchang 
came  into  the  possession  of  the  revolutionists.  But  when 
the  attack  was  directed  against  Nanking,  much  resistance 
was  encountered  and  the  city  was  not  captured  until  many 
lives  had  been  sacrificed. 

There  are  two  reasons  to  account  for  the  difficulty  in 
subduing  Nanking.  First,  Nanking  is  a  strongly  fortified 
city;  it  has  the  advantage  of  being  protected  by  a  deep  and 
wide  moat  and  by  a  number  of  high  hills  which  encircle 
it.  Unlike  ordinary  city-walls  in  China,  this  wall  around 
Nanking  follows  the  course  of  the  surrounding  hills  and  is 
built  of  stones  as  well  as  of  bricks.  Such  a  solid  construc- 
tion naturally  hinders  opponents  from  coming  in  or  near 
the  city.  The  top  of  this  massive  structure,  where  I  walked, 
is  wide  enough  to  accommodate  six  horses  trotting  abreast. 
The  city  of  Nanking  (literally  South  Capital),  had  been 
twice  the  capital  of  the  Empire.  It  was  the  headquarters 
for  the  Taiping  rebellion,  another  anti-Manchu  outbreak  of 
the  country  in  1850.  The  imperial  army  then  besieged  the 
city  for  over  a  year  without  success.  At  last,  a  subterra- 
nean tunnel  was  dug  under  the  center  of  the  city  and  then 
exploded  by  the  imperialists.  By  this  means  was  the  city 
subdued.  This  happened  about  sixty  years  ago,  and  the 
Manchu  government  did  not  forget  the  painstaking  work  of 
conquering  Nanking  rebels.  Consequently,  the  Tartar  regi- 
ment of  that  city  had  been  especially  well  organized  and 
fully  equipped  with  modern  instruments  of  war.     This  is 

335 


336  C.    VOONPING   YUI 

one  of  tlie  reasons  why  the  revokitionists  encountered  hard 
bloody  battles  before  success  finally  came. 

Second,  the  city  has  a  Tartar  general  and  a  Chinese  gen- 
eral, namely  Tieh  Lian  and  Chang  Shun.  Both  were  as 
loyal  and  submissive  to  the  Manchus  as  their  slaves,  and 
also  as  cruel  and  brutal  as  tyrants.  It  was  reported  that 
even  the  slightest  suspicion  of  helping  the  revolutionists 
would  result  in  decapitation  through  the  order  of  these 
enthusiasts.  During  the  revolution  many  helpless  and  inno- 
cent persons  thus  lost  their  lives  in  the  city  without 
specification  of  their  crimes  or  discrimination  of  right  from 
wrong  according  to  law.  When  the  country  was  every- 
where teeming  with  revolutionary  spirit,  Chang  Shun  and  his 
fellow  officials  still  foolishly  exerted  their  utmost  energy  to 
drill  the  army  and  the  artillery  and  prepared  to  resist  the 
invincible  forces  of  the  people.  The  imperial  officers  thus 
invited  strong  opposition. 

For  these  two  reasons,  the  people  had  to  fight  with  all 
their  might  in  order  to  bring  back  the  laurels  of  triumph. 

How  did  I  happen  to  witness  a  part  of  the  bloody  scene? 
I  was  connected  with  Nanyang  College,  Shanghai,  as  a  resi- 
dent physician.  I  was  then  teaching  a  class  in  first  aid. 
As  soon  as  the  revolution  began  in  Shanghai,  I  organized  a 
first  aid  corps,  comprising  twenty-four  persons,  some  were 
my  students,  others  my  friends,  and  one  was  my  brother. 
All  aimed  to  carry  on  Red  Cross  work  and  all  were  volun- 
teers supplying  their  own  funds.  Although  my  companions 
and  I  lacked  experience  in  such  work,  we  were  enthusias- 
tic. When  the  bad  news  of  the  recapture  of  Hankow  by 
the  imperialists  reached  Shanghai,  we  intended  to  start  for 
that  city.  As  many  Red  Cross  members  had  done  splendid 
work  there,  we  found  our  services  were  more  needed  in 
Nanking  where  merciless  fighting  had  already  taken  place. 
So  we  started  for  Nanking  November  28,  1911,  and  met 
Bishop  F.  R.  Graves,  Dr.  Geo.  Deval,  and  Dr.  Gaynor  on 
our  way.  Besides  the  ordinary  equipment  such  as  dress- 
ings, blankets,  stretchers,  splints,  hypodermics,  etc.,  we 
brought  along  with  us  four  big  bales  of  clothing,  consisting 
of  underwear,  coats  and  trousers  which  afterward  proved 


EXPERIENCES   AT   THE    SIEGE   OF   NANKING  337 

most  useful.  When  a  helpless  soldier  bled  through  his 
shirt  and  uniform,  he  was  encountering,  first,  the  dangers 
of  the  hemorrhage  and  second,  the  shock  from  the  cold 
and  wet  coat  in  the  winter.  The  clumsy  packages  of  cloth- 
ing were  very  serviceable  after  dressings  for  wounds  were 
jSxed  up. 

We  were  not  allowed  to  enter  Nanking.  We  stayed  near 
the  revolutionary  headquarters  in  a  village  called  Marchin. 
For  a  couple  of  days  we  treated  many  wounded  soldiers  in 
that  village.  Serious  cases,  after  temporary  dressings  were 
applied  by  us,  had  to  be  sent  to  the  nearest  improvised  hos- 
pitals. The  injured  patriots  we  met  then,  were  chiefly  the 
fighters  and  survivors  of  the  battles  fought  at  Yu  Hwa  Dai 
and  Tse  Ching  Shan,  the  two  well-known  hills  where  the 
imperialists  treacherously  hoisted  white  flags  signifying  their 
surrender.  When  the  revolutionists  marched  forward  to 
shake  hands  with  them,  they  proved  treacherous  fighters. 
The  unexpected  opposition  nevertheless  acted  as  a  stimu- 
lant, adding  more  energy  and  spirit  to  the  revolutionists. 

In  the  midnight  of  November  30,  the  battle  of  Tien 
Pao  Chen  was  fought.  The  field  was  rather  distant  from 
our  lodging,  only  cannonading  could  be  heard.  We  did  not 
attempt  to  go  out  at  night  as  the  officers  near  our  hut  ad- 
vised us  not  to  travel  in  the  dark.  We  slept  on  hay  and 
straw  over  night  and  marched  to  Tien  Pao  Chen  next  day. 
We  met  hundreds  of  wounded  soldiers  on  the  way  and  ren- 
dered our  assistance  wherever  needed.  In  the  beginning 
of  our  work,  we  had  a  registrar  to  note  down  the  names  of 
the  injured  soldiers,  the  character  of  the  wound  and  the 
regiment  to  which  they  belonged.  But  later  we  found  we 
had  no  time  to  waste  on  this  unimportant  registration,  so 
we  devoted  our  energy  along  more  serviceable  lines.  We 
dispensed  with  the  recording.  Every  one  in  our  party  had 
come  to  be  an  active  member. 

I  asked  the  veterans  why  they  fought  at  midnight,  an 
awkward  hour  for  us  to  rescue  efficiently.  They  said  that 
Tien  Pao  Chen  was  a  fortified  hill  and  that  an  attack  to  be 
effective  must  necessarily  be  done  at  night,  not  in  the  day. 
Most  of  the  bullet  wounds  I  saw,  were  wounds  made  by 


338  C.    VOONPING   YUI 

bullets  having  passed  entirely  through  the  body.  As  I 
learned,  those  bullets  must  be  made  of  steel  else  they  would 
not  have  such  penetrative  powers. 

One  of  the  soldiers  had  a  bullet  wound  in  the  front  of 
his  right  chest  about  one  inch  outside  the  nipple  with  an 
exit  wound  on  the  back  about  three  inches  away  from  the 
spinal  column.  I  thought  it  must  have  penetrated  the 
pleura  and  the  right  lung.  But  to  my  surprise,  the  bullet 
had  run  along  the  line  of  the  fifth  rib  and  come  out  without 
leaving  any  injury  to  the  organ  of  respiration. 

Lucky  men  lived  and  survived  even  though  they  sustained 
severe  wounds.  Unlucky  ones  died  on  the  spot  when  they 
thought  themselves  safe.  There  was  a  merchant  uninten- 
tionally shot  by  a  revolutionist  during  the  fighting.  The 
bullet  went  into  the  middle  of  his  thigh,  fractured  the  femur 
as  it  hit  against  the  bone,  and  a  second  wound  was  made 
on  the  inner  side  of  the  thigh;  continuing  its  course  the 
bullet  struck  against  the  other  thigh  and  penetrated  through 
the  muscles — a  total  of  four  wounds  with  a  compound 
fracture  resulting  from  a  single  bullet.  I  first  saw  him 
after  he  had  been  wounded  four  days.  Septic  inflamma- 
tion set  in.  The  man  refused  any  treatment  whatever, 
and  only  said  that  he  wanted  to  go  home  and  die  on  his 
bed. 

When  we  were  walking  across  a  field,  there  were  two 
persons  far  ahead  of  us;  one  was  an  old  farmer  and  the 
other  a  small  lad,  possibly  his  grandson.  It  was  so  sad  to 
see  a  cannon  ball  from  a  distant  place  fall  like  a  shooting 
star  on  this  poor  couple  and  explode.  When  we  reached 
the  spot,  there  remained  only  the  dead  child,  the  old  man 
had  disappeared,  probably  cremated  alive. 

On  December  1,  we  were  directed  to  the  Tiger  Hill, 
which  we  reached  after  a  six  hours'  walk.  We  visited  the 
revolutionary  general  Li  Tien  Chan,  who  was  very  hospi- 
table and  kind  to  us;  after  a  moment's  rest,  he  ordered  his 
subordinate  to  accompany  us  to  the  soldiers'  quarters, 
where  the  sick  and  the  injured  were  lying,  groaning  in  pain 
and  suffering  untold  agony.  We  treated  the  urgent  cases 
first  and  then  one  by  one  we  tried  our  best  to  minister  to 


EXPERIENCES   AT   THE   SIEGE   OF   NANKING  339 

the  others.  The  suffering  men  appreciated  our  work  al- 
though we  could  not  relieve  them  at  once. 

When  we  got  through  our  cases,  we  walked  back  to 
General  Li's  residence.  This  occupied  forty-five  minutes. 
Although  it  was  a  short  journey,  it  was  nevertheless  a  trying 
one  and  required  much  courage.  The  revolutionary  and  the 
imperial  artillerymen  were  exchanging  their  shrapnel  and 
shells  from  the  Lion  Hill  to  the  Tiger  Hill  and  vice  versa. 
The  sky  above  our  heads  was  like  a  realm  of  meteors  and 
shooting  stars.  We  saw  the  shells  striking  the  valley  explode 
with  loud  noise  and  furious  conflagration.  I  ordered  my 
companions  to  walk  far  apart  each,  leaving  an  interval  of 
fifteen  to  twenty  feet  and  told  my  much  scared  brother 
that  death  was  not  so  terrible  as  it  was  imagined,  and  that 
there  should  be  no  fear  of  cannon  balls.  Fortunately  they 
struck  only  against  the  rocks  and  none  of  them  hurt  any  of  us. 

We  passed  the  night  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  and  we  slept 
in  the  room  next  to  General  Li.  The  beds  and  bedding 
that  he  provided  for  us,  were  much  nicer  than  the  straw 
and  hay  beds  of  the  previous  nights.  As  the  residence  was 
erected  under  the  castle,  every  cannonade  gave  us  a  violent 
shake.  The  windows,  the  doors,  the  beds,  the  tables,  in 
fact  all  the  articles  of  furniture  were  in  a  jerky  motion 
throughout  the  night,  and  the  lamps  on  account  of  incessant 
jarring  could  not  give  light  as  desired. 

When  we  were  sitting  in  the  parlor,  a  soldier,  panting 
as  he  entered  the  room,  reported  information  which  he  had 
discovered  and  handed  to  the  General  a  package  of  things 
obtained  from  the  imperialists.  He  was  warmly  welcomed 
by  his  superior  and  was  rewarded  with  a  sum  of  three  dollars 
for  his  skillful  spying. 

General  Li,  as  I  learned  from  the  veterans  and  the  sur- 
vivors, captured  this  Tiger  Hill  with  an  infantry  of  two  hun- 
dred men.  Since  then,  he  had  to  enlist  every  day  a  crowd 
of  new  comers  from  the  imperial  side  as  the  ill-treatment  of 
the  Tartar  general  could  not  be  tolerated  even  by  his  own 
people.  They  came  to  seek  for  refuge  and  to  fight  for 
liberty.  The  number  of  General  Li's  soldiers  was  increased 
to  over  2000  when  we  were  there. 


340  C.    VOONPING   YUI 

In  tlio  city  of  Nankinci;  terror  prevailed.  Rumors  reigned 
in  the  streets.  Suspicious  grew  every  now  and  then.  Slaugh- 
ters were  reported  daily.  Unmerciful  tyrants  wielded  their 
power  in  such  an  abusive  manner  that  no  human  being 
would  side  with  the  imperialists.  Chang  Shun  was  espe- 
cially faithful  to  the  Manchu  government.  His  faithful- 
ness came  to  an  end  when  Nanking  fell. 

Here  is  another  instance  that  is  worth  mentioning. 
Though  the  guards  of  the  castle  on  the  Lion  Hill  were  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  Chang  Shun,  none  of  the  gunners  there 
would  venture  to  attack  their  own  countrymen  on  the  Tiger 
Hill  which  was  only  about  four  miles  distant.  They  knew 
that  General  Li  had  made  his  headquarters  there,  and 
that  a  large  number  of  soldiers  camped  in  the  plains  of  the 
Tiger  Hill.  They  understood  their  principle  of  love  of 
brethren  better  than  did  their  commanders.  Consequently 
when  an  order  was  given  to  bombard  their  sister  hill,  the 
gunners  purposely  aimed  in  a  slightly  diiTerent  direction, 
so  that  the  cannon-balls  merely  hit  the  impenetrable  cliff 
or  flew  high  up  in  the  sky.  They  never  intended  to  harm 
their  brethren  on  the  Tiger  Hill. 

The  imperial  general  learned  their  dissimulations  and  had 
two  of  them  beheaded  for  disloyalty.  But  the  rest  of  the 
gunners  grew  even  more  patriotic;  they  claimed  that  they 
would  rather  lose  their  heads  than  fire  against  their  breth- 
ren. So  another  two  were  killed.  Then  the  general  super- 
vised the  cannonading  and  found  that  his  men  would  never 
aim  directly  at  the  enemy,  so  a  third  pair  of  patriots  were 
decapitated.  A  noble  sacrifice  of  six  lives  saved  thousands 
of  others  simply  for  love  of  brothers. 

Action  speaks  louder  than  words  and  is  always  appre- 
ciated. The  revolutionary  gunners  on  the  opposite  side 
never  tried  to  shower  their  shells  on  the  Tiger  Hill.  Their 
shrapnel,  on  the  contrary,  were  all  directed  to  the  Tartar 
town  in  the  center  of  the  city.  Unless  the  Manchus  surren- 
dered with  their  ammunitions,  the  people  would  not  cease 
their  cannonading. 

Such  was  the  mutual  understanding  of  the  gunners  on 
both  sides.     The  Lion  and  the  Tiger  had  secretly  come  to 


EXPERIENCES   AT   THE   SIEGE   OF   NANKING  341 

an  alliance.  So  a  week  of  bombarding  elapsed  and  the  two 
hills,  although  but  a  short  distance  apart,  had  not  injured 
each  other's  castles  nor  camps. 

December  2  was  a  bright  and  clear  winter  morning.  The 
sky  looked  smiling.  The  sun  sent  down  its  golden  rays 
as  if  to  congratulate  and  console  the  hard  fighting  pa- 
triots. To  our  surprise  and  unexpected  joy,  a  white  flag  of 
surrender  was  hoisted  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning  high  up 
on  the  Lion  Hill  on  the  imperial  side,  with  a  three  colored 
flag  attached  signifying  welcome.  In  addition  to  the  hoist- 
ing of  the  flags,  the  Lion  Hill  gunners  fired  two  shells  to 
open  a  part  of  the  wall  of  the  city  and  a  third  to  the  center 
of  the  Tartar  town  and  a  fourth  to  Pukow  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Yantze  River  where  the  imperial  generals  hid  them- 
selves in  the  last  days  of  the  siege. 

With  triumphant  joy,  the  revolutionists  took  the  pos- 
session of  this  old  capital  and  made  the  Nanyang  Exhibition 
Buildings  the  Administrative  Halls.  Peace  began  to  reign 
and  order  followed  gradually.  When  we  walked  into  the 
city,  we  met  a  band  of  Amazon  corps,  wearing  long  unique 
uniforms,  holding  a  newly  designed  banner,  and  marching 
into  the  Wai  Feng  Gate.  Splendid  work,  as  reported,  was 
done  by  these  masculine  ladies,  especially  in  throwing  bombs 
and  close  fights. 

Our  company,  losing  its  way,  did  not  visit  the  Tartar 
town,  as  we  intended.  We  learned  afterwards  that  it  was 
fortunate  that  we  did  not  visit  this  hazardous  place,  for 
the  Manchus,  before  surrendering  to  us,  had  laid  a  number 
of  bomb-chests,  which  were  all  exploded  one  by  one,  when 
unlucky  folks  stepped  accidentally  on  them. 

We  went,  on  December  4,  to  Pukow  where  Chang  Shun 
and  his  five  hundred  foot-soldiers  took  the  train  at  the 
Tien  Tsin  Pukow  Railway  station  and  fled  to  the  north 
early  in  the  morning  of  December  2.  There  we  attended 
about  two  score  of  wounded  soldiers.  Two  days  after  we 
returned  home,  our  bodies  emaciated  on  account  of  the 
deprivation  of  nutritive  food  and  the  lack  of  sufficient  sleep, 
as  we  had  been  compelled  to  live  for  several  days  on  turnips 
and   crackers  and   had   to  retire  on  uncomfortable  beds. 


342  C.    VOONPING    YIJI 

But  tlie  soldiers  were  iniicli  more  exhausted,  as  proper  nu- 
trition and  rest  were  far  beyond  the  possibility  of  their 
reach.  The  triumphant  joys  of  those  who  had  suffered  for 
the  Republic  compensated  them  for  hardships  better  than 
any  material  rewaid. 

The  fall  of  Nanking  was  the  beginning  of  the  new  govern- 
ment. During  the  truce  between  the  revolutionists  and 
the  imperialists  the  latter  had  made  thorough  preparations 
and  obtained  new  equipment.  When  it  expired,  they  were 
able  to  take  possession  of  the  cities  of  Hankow  and  Hang- 
yang.  Had  the  revolutionists  failed  in  the  siege  of  Nanking, 
it  would  have  meant  their  end.  The  most  critical  hours 
were  when  mj^  companions  and  myself  were  doing  our  work 
in  the  suburb  of  the  city.  Soon  after  the  triumph.  Sun 
Yat  Sen  took  up  his  residence  in  this  provincial  capital,  and 
the  provisional  republican  form  of  government  was  for  the 
first  time  in  the  Far  East  inaugurated  with  representatives 
from  the  different  provinces  of  the  country. 

As  the  fighting  was  carried  on  by  troops  from  different 
sections  of  the  nation,  naturally  the  field  of  operations  was 
extended  to  a  vast  area;  and  what  I  have  related  is  only  a 
fractional  part  of  the  occurrences  and  incidences  of  the 
whole  campaign.  I  do  not  attempt  to  dwell  on  topics  con- 
cerning happenings  that  I  did  not  see  for  fear  of  misrepre- 
sentation or  misinterpretation. 

To  an  observ^er  of  this  revolution,  it  is  interesting  to 
notice  that  the  spii'it  of  the  people  of  every  corner  of  the 
nation  favored  the  revolutionists.  It  may  be  said  that 
every  citizen  was  a  revolutionist.  It  was  most  wonderfully 
impressed  upon  the  minds  of  the  whole  populace  that  the 
old  government  had  to  lose  and  the  revolutionists  had  to 
win;  that  the  question  of  success  or  failure  was  a  question 
of  the  life  or  death  of  the  country  at  large,  not  a  question 
of  individual  interest.  On  hearing  the  firing  of  rifles  or 
the  cannonading  of  guns,  even  the  ignorant  country  folks 
would  yell  from  the  bottom  of  their  hearts  "Woe  to  the 
government!"  or  ''Hail  for  the  people!" 

How  the  Chinese,  numbering  one  quarter  of  the  human 
race,  have  been  able  to  agree  unanimously  on  the  over- 


EXPERIENCES   AT   THE    SIEGE    OF   NANKING  343 

throw  of  the  Manchurian  yoke ;  how  the  revolution  has  been 
completed  in  so  vast  a  country  in  so  short  a  space  of  time 
with  comparatively  so  small  a  cost  of  life  is  really  a  mystery 
that  no  one  can  yet  fully  explain. 

Here  I  shall  mention  briefly  some  factors,  which  seem  to 
me  to  be  causes  of  the  revolution.  In  tracing  the  remote 
causes,  I  must  say  that  the  general  awakening  of  the  con- 
servative Chinese  began  in  the  year  1894  when  China  was 
defeated  in  the  Chino-Japan  war.  The  second  period  of 
awakening  began  in  1900  when  the  allied  troops  besieged 
the  capital  of  the  empire.  Since  then,  the  tide  of  new  learn- 
ing has  rushed  in  with  full  speed  until  the  minds  of  the 
scholars  have  been  saturated  with  the  translations  from 
works  of  Montesquieu  and  of  Rousseau,  their  brains  have 
been  permeated  with  the  accounts  of  the  lives  of  Peter  the 
Great  and  of  George  Washington.  It  is  the  education  that 
pushes  the  people  ahead.  Corruption  of  the  government, 
however,  was  not  a  small  contributing  factor  of  this  gigantic 
revolt.  Everywhere  the  people  realized  the  weakness  and 
pessimism  of  the  government  which  could  never  be  trusted 
and  would  never  raise  the  standard  of  the  nation's  prestige. 
Favoritism  and  bribery  were  almighty.  The  sluggish,  self- 
ish and  oppressive  nature  of  the  Manchu  government  had 
led  us  to  overthrow  it  entirely,  after  gentle  appealings  were 
unsuccessfully  and  ineffectively  resorted  to.  One  of  the  im- 
mediate causes  was  the  railway  riot  in  Szechuan.  The  gov- 
ernment attempted  to  buy  the  people's  bonds  with  the 
loans  from  foreign  nations.  The  shareholders  rejected  this. 
The  government  apphed  force  and  oppression.  Troops  were 
summoned  to  fight  against  the  disobedient  people.  This 
aggravated  the  revolutionary  idea.  Soon  after,  the  revo- 
lution started  in  Wuchang. 

One  of  the  factors  last  mentioned,  although  by  no  means 
of  least  importance,  was  the  activity  of  the  newspapers. 
They  preached  political  sermons,  awakened  the  people  and 
informed  them  of  the  aggressiveness  of  some  nations  against 
our  country,  and  encouraged  the  revolution  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  like  to  draw  your  attention  to  the 


344  C.    VOONPING    YUI 

fact  that  the  Manchus,  although  our  enemies  for  awliile,  yet 
as  soon  as  they  gave  up  their  arms,  have  been  looked  upon 
as  our  own  countrymen,  having  the  same  privileges  and 
rights  as  enjoyed  by  the  Cliinese.  In  additon  to  the  royal 
pension  and  that  for  the  imperial  clan,  we  are  supporting 
them  individually  wuth  regular  monthly  allowances,  as  was 
done  previously,  until  they  are  able  to  earn  their  livings. 
So  it  is  manifest  that  one-eighth  of  the  whole  population  of 
China  is  living  parasitically  at  the  expense  of  the  rest.  It 
has  been  calculated  that  this  enormous  sum  of  money 
would  be  sufficient  to  pay  the  indemnities  of  the  past  years, 
if  we  simply  abolish  this  imperial  clan  payment.  This  is  a 
matter  of  generosity  and  love  of  brethren  which  has  sim- 
plified the  revolution  and  shortened  its  course. 

As  to  the  future  of  China,  no  observer  has  any  doubt  that 
the  recent  revolution  marks  the  dawn  of  a  new  era.  It 
would  be  only  too  natural  that  the  country  must  take 
some  time  to  recover  peace  and  order.  Soon  a  firm  and 
responsible  government  will  be  established,  the  people  united, 
integrity  promoted,  education  enforced,  natural  wealth  devel- 
oped, industry  improved  and  commerce  facilitated — every 
possible  reform  will  be  gradually  carried  out,  and  our  rela- 
tions with  other  nations  will  be  more  intimate  and  friendly, 
especially  with  the  sympathizing  Americans,  who  assist  and 
understand  us  better  than  other  nations.  Like  American 
citizens  and  patriots  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  years 
ago,  we  fought  for  freedom,  liberty,  and  self-government. 
May  the  Coasts  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  be  the  regions  of  the 
two  Republics  everlasting!  May  we  join  our  hands  closer 
and  closer  to  keep  the  world  at  peace  to  encourage  arbi- 
tration and  to  do  away  with  war! 


THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  UPON   THE 
EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  CHINA 

By  P.  W.  Kuo,  M.A.,  Ex-President  of  Chinese  Students' 
Alliance  in  America 

In  describing  China's  early  attempts  to  introduce  mod- 
ern education  a  certain  writer  compared  her  to  "an  infant 
sea-bather  in  the  act  of  taking  his  first  plunge,  touching 
the  water  and  then  running  away,  wading  out  and  then 
tearing  back.  He  did  not  dare  to  succumb  to  the  allure- 
ments of  the  fascinating  element  and  though  the  sight  of 
adult  bathers  frolicking  and  playing  'hide  and  seek'  with 
waves  shot  an  arrow  of  envy  through  him,  he  never  under- 
took the  attempt."  This  attitude,  no  matter  how  true  it 
was  at  the  beginning,  was  certainly  not  true  at  the  dawn  of 
the  revolution.  At  that  time  China's  attitude  toward  mod- 
ern education  was  not  the  attitude  of  the  timid  sea-bather. 
She  had  taken  her  first  plunge,  also  the  second,  and  even 
the  third,  and  had  fully  determined  to  make  modern  edu- 
cation accessible  to  her  people  at  any  cost.  Evidences  of 
this  attitude  were  seen  on  every  hand.  It  was  seen  in  the 
earnestness  with  which  the  government  carried  out  its  edu- 
cational policy  and  in  the  marvelous  development  of  the 
modern  educational  system  since  its  inception  in  1905.  It 
was  seen  in  the  rapid  growth  of  popular  interest  toward 
education  shown  in  the  numerous  gifts  and  benefactions 
given  by  the  wealthy  as  well  as  the  poor  for  the  extension 
of  educational  privileges  through  the  establishment  of  schools 
and  colleges.  It  was  seen  in  the  presence  of  an  increas- 
ingly large  number  of  men  and  women  who  were  willing 
to  devote  their  time  and  talent  to  the  advancement  of 
modern  education.  These  are  but  a  few  of  the  signs  which 
clearly  indicate  that  at  the  dawn  of  the  revolution  the  atti- 
tude of  China  toward  improving  her  educational  system  in 
modern  lines  was  not  at  all  equivocal  and  that  modern  edu- 

345 


340  p.  w.  Kuo 

cation  had  come  to  China  to  stay  and  to  exercise  its  influ- 
ence over  the  life  of  the  nation  as  well  as  that  of  the  people. 

In  order  to  appreciate  fully  the  effect  of  the  revolution 
upon  the  educational  system  of  China,  it  is  necessary  to  exam- 
ine first  the  status  of  education  at  the  dawn  of  the  revolu- 
tion. According  to  the  third  annual  report  of  the  ministry 
of  education,  published  in  1911,  there  were  in  China  during 
1910,  52,650  schools  of  different  types,  including  normal, 
vocational  and  technical  schools,  with  a  student  body  num- 
bering 1,625,534,  a  teaching  corps  numbering  89,766,  and  a 
corps  of  administrative  officers  numbering  95,800.  Aside 
from  the  schools  there  also  existed  during  that  year  69 
boards  of  education,  722  local,  provincial,  and  national  edu- 
cational associations,  1558  educational  exhorting  societies, 
and  3867  public  lecture  halls.  The  total  income  for  educa- 
tional purposes  during  that  year  was  Taels  23,331,171,  and 
the  expenditure  for  the  same  year  was  Taels  24,444,309. 
The  educational  property  possessed  by  the  government  was 
valued  at  Taels  70,367,882. 

Some  idea  as  to  the  quality  of  the  work  done  in  the  schools 
of  that  period  may  be  gained  from  many  of  the  educational 
exhibits  that  were  given  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 
At  the  Nanking  Industrial  Exhibition  held  in  1910,  more 
than  34,000  pieces  of  articles,  including  apparatus,  text- 
books, charts,  drawings,  hand-writings,  etc.,  all  products  of 
schools,  were  collected  and  exhibited,  and  the  list  of  prizes 
awarded  to  the  articles  at  the  exliibition  shows  that  no 
less  than  966  prizes,  which  is  about  half  of  the  total  number 
of  prizes  given  out,  were  awarded  to  articles  in  the  educa- 
tional exhibit.  Much  highly  favorable  comment  was  also 
received  from  educators  of  the  west  who  \dsited  the  exhibit. 
A  similar  but  smaller  collection  of  educational  articles  was 
sent  to  the  exhibition  not  long  ago  held  in  Italy,  and  there 
again  many  prizes  were  received  owing  to  the  high  standard 
reached  both  in  skill  and  in  thought  content. 

The  status  of  education  before  the  revolution  is  perhaps 
best  seen  in  the  influence  which  modern  education  had  ex- 
erted upon  the  intellectual  or  thought  life  of  the  people. 
It  is  the  opinion  of  many  who  are  in  a  position  to  judge  that 


THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  UPON  EDUCATION      347 

the  schools  and  colleges  of  China  contributed  a  great  share 
to  the  revolutionary  movement.  Education  evidently  had 
created  in  the  life  of  the  students,  both  young  and  old,  an 
intense  dissatisfaction  with  things  as  they  were  and  an 
earnest  desire  to  better  the  condition  of  their  country  both 
socially  and  politically.  Indeed,  it  has  been  repeatedly  de- 
clared by  Sun  Yat-sen  and  others  prominent  in  the  revolu- 
tionary cause,  that  education  was  the  chief  factor  in  the 
successful  overthrow  of  the  monarchy  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  republic. 

The  revolution  naturally  caused  a  temporary  cessation  of 
educational  activity.  Much  or  all  of  the  funds  intended 
for  the  maintenance  of  educational  institutions  had  to  be 
used  for  the  support  of  the  armies.  In  consequence,  the 
activities  of  a  large  number  of  schools  and  colleges  were 
either  suspended  or  seriously  crippled,  especially  those  sit- 
uated near  the  centers  of  disturbance  such  as  Chentu,  Han- 
kow, Wuchang,  Nanking,  Canton,  and  Peking.  During  the 
days  of  storm  and  stress,  many  of  the  school  buildings  were 
used  as  soldiers'  quarters,  and  in  not  a  few  cases  the  entire 
schools  were  destroyed,  with  their  books  and  apparatus 
looted  and  scattered.  A  large  number  of  students  volun- 
teered for  service  in  the  field,  either  by  forming  themselves 
into  new  regiments,  or  by  joining  the  regular  army.  Some 
of  them  even  became  influential  leaders  of  the  revolution. 
An  equally  large  number  of  students  organized  associations 
for  securing  contributions  of  money  toward  the  war  fund. 
It  was  reported  that  the  students  of  one  college  in  south 
China  alone  in  one  campaign  collected  more  than  $40,000 
toward  the  maintenance  of  the  republican  army.  Still 
others  volunteered  to  give  lectures  in  public  with  a  view  to 
supply  the  people  with  the  facts  of  the  revolution  and  to 
instruct  them  in  the  principles  of  a  republic,  as  well  as  the 
duties  of  their  new  citizenship.  Thus  during  the  short  revo- 
lutionary period  the  cause  of  education  received  a  hard  blow 
from  which  it  has  not  yet  fully  recovered. 

As  soon  as  the  provisional  government  was  established 
in  Nanking,  the  matter  of  education  received  its  serious 
attention.     Tsai  Yuan-pei,  for  five  years  a  student  in  the 


348  p.  w.  Kuo 

University  of  Leipsic,  and  a  man  recognized  as  one  who 
had  much  abihty  and  experience  in  educational  affairs,  was 
appointed  as  the  first  minister  of  education.  While  the 
Slianghai  Peace  Conference  was  still  in  session  and  the  ulti- 
mate fate  of  the  country  was  still  weighing  in  the  balance, 
the  new  minister  of  education  issued  a  circular  to  the  repub- 
lican governors  urging  them  the  importance  of  the  resump- 
tion of  educational  work.  He  outlined  a  set  of  temporary 
regulations  for  the  guidance  of  the  educators  of  the  nation, 
the  most  important  of  which  stipulate:  (1)  In  the  first 
grade  of  elementary  education  boys  and  girls  are  to  be  al- 
lowed to  attend  the  same  schools.  (2)  Classical  studies  are 
to  be  abrogated  in  elementary  education.  (3)  Elementary 
handicraft  departments  shall  have  especial  attention.  This 
same  Tsai  Yuan-pei  later  became  the  minister  of  education 
on  the  first  cabinet  of  Yuan  Shih-kai  after  the  latter  was 
elected  provisional  president  of  the  new  republic;  but  as  a 
consequence  of  the  resignation  of  Premier  Tang  Shao-yi,  he 
was  soon  obliged  to  resign  from  his  office.  The  vacancy 
left  by  him  was  filled  by  Fan  Yuan  Lien,  who  was  then 
serving  as  vice-minister  of  education.  Fan  is  a  native  of 
Hunan  and  a  returned  student  from  Japan.  He  was  known 
as  a  man  who  was  most  familiar  with  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry of  education,  having  served  the  ministry  under  the 
Manchu  dynasty  in  the  capacity  of  a  secretary.  He  was 
therefore  not  ill  prepared  to  perform  the  task  which  fell 
upon  him,  namely,  to  reorganize  the  educational  system  of 
the  country. 

One  of  the  first  tasks  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  educa- 
tional system  has  been  the  reorganization  of  the  central 
administrative  organ,  namely,  the  ministry  of  education  in 
Peking.  The  ministry  as  now  reconstructed  differs  from  the 
one  in  existence  before  the  revolution  in  that  it  is  less  com- 
plex and  less  highly  centralized.  The  ministry  has  at  its 
head  the  minister  of  education,  who  has  general  charge  of  all 
matters  relating  to  education  and  to  the  general  supervision 
of  all  the  schools  of  the  country,  together  wit-h  all  public 
buildings  under  the  immediate  control  of  the  ministry.  The 
minister  is  assisted  by  many  officers.     Aside  from  those 


THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  UPON  EDUCATION      349 

officers  that  are  common  in  all  ministries,  there  are  pro- 
vided 16  inspectors  and  10  experts  in  art  and  science  (2  chief 
and  8  regular  experts).  The  inspectors  are  appointed  by 
the  president  of  the  republic  at  the  nomination  of  the  min- 
ister, and  the  experts  are  appointed  by  the  minister  himself. 
The  work  of  the  ministry  is  apportioned  to  one  general 
council  and  three  bureaus,  instead  of  five  bureaus  as  was 
the  case  before  the  revolution.  The  general  council  has 
special  charge  of  all  matters  relating  to  schools  under  the 
direct  control  of  the  ministry,  teachers  in  public  schools, 
educational  associations,  investigations  and  compilations, 
school  hygiene,  repair  and  building  of  school  library,  school 
museum,  and  educational  exhibits.  The  three  bureaus  are 
as  follows:  (1)  general  education:  (2)  technical  or  profes- 
sional education;  and  (3)  social  education.  The  bureau  of 
general  education  is  in  charge  of  all  matters  relating  to 
normal  school,  middle  school,  primary  school,  kindergarten, 
and  schools  for  all  forms  of  defectives,  including  the  deaf 
and  the  blind.  It  is  also  in  charge  of  matters  relating  to 
children's  attendance  at  school  and  the  selection  and  certi- 
fication of  teachers.  The  bureau  of  technical  or  professional 
education  has  charge  of  all  affairs  relating  to  university  and 
college,  higher  technical  school,  the  sending  of  students 
abroad,  the  national  observatory  and  the  preparation  of  the 
governmental  almanac,  the  society  of  doctors  of  philosophy, 
the  association  for  the  unification  of  the  mother  tongue,  the 
association  of  examiners  of  medical  doctors  and  pharma- 
cists. In  addition,  this  bureau  has  control  of  all  matters 
relating  to  societies  of  arts  and  science  and  the  conferring 
of  degrees.  The  bureau  of  social  education  is  in  charge  of 
all  afi"airs  relating  to  correction  of  public  ceremonies,  mu- 
seums, libraries,  zoological  and  botanical  gardens,  fine  arts 
museums  and  exhibits,  music,  literature  and  the  stage,  the 
investigation  and  collection  of  relics,  popular  education  and 
public  lecture  bureaus,  public  and  circulating  libraries,  and 
last  of  all  the  compilation,  the  investigation,  and  the  plan- 
ning of  popular  education. 

With  the  reorganization  of  the  ministry  there  has  taken 
place  a  change  in  the  educational  system  itself.     In  the 


\ 


350  p.  w.  Kuo 

course  of  a  few  months  the  ministry  drew  up  one  after 
another  four  different  schemes.  The  final  one  which  was 
submitted  to  the  Central  Educational  Conference  for  dis- 
cussion, provides  the  following:  Primary  elementary  school, 
four  years,  ages  6-9;  higher  elementary  school,  three  years, 
ages  10-12;  middle  school,  four  years,  ages  14-16;  college 
preparatory,  three  years,  ages  17-19;  and  college  proper, 
three  or  four  years,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  course, 
ages  20-22  or  23.  It  also  provides  two  types  of  normal 
schools,  the  normal  school  with  a  course  of  four  years,  and 
one  year  of  preparatory  course,  ages  13-17;  and  the  higher 
normal  having  a  course  of  three  years  and  one  year  of  pre- 
paratory course,  ages  17-20,  Two  kinds  of  industrial 
schools  are  also  specified,  each  having  a  course  of  three  years, 
ages  10-12  and  13-15.  Of  the  technical  schools  there  are 
provided  one  preparatory  course  of  one  year,  age  17,  and 
the  technical  course  proper  lasting  three  or  four  years  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  the  course,  ages  18-20  or  21.  The 
scheme  given  received  the  endorsement  of  the  Central 
Educational  Association  with  the  exception  of  the  college 
preparatory  course  which  the  conference  urged  to  have 
shortened  from  three  years  to  one  year.  For  one  reason  or 
another  this  recoiximendation  of  the  conference  was  not 
accepted  and  the  plan  as  given  above  has  since  been  officially 
made  the  new  educational  scheme  for  the  republic.  It  is 
to  be  noticed  here  that  according  to  this  new  plan  the 
length  of  time  required  to  go  through  this  entire  educational 
system  from  primary  school  up  through  the  university  will 
be  shortened  to  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  from  that  of  twenty- 
three  years  which  was  the  period  required  under  the  system 
existing  before  the  revolution. 

The  next  step  of  importance  taken  by  the  ministry  was 
the  promulgation  of  the  aim  of  education,  which  shows  a 
fundamental  change  from  the  one  upheld  for  centuries  by  the 
old  conception,  which  was  to  make  royal  subjects  of  those 
who  go  to  school  and  to  inculcate  in  them  ideas  of  loj^alty 
to  the  emperor,  honor  for  Confucius,  high  estimation  for  the 
warlike,  and  respect  for  that  which  is  practical.  Education 
is  now  to  be  conceived  as  a  means  of  cultivating  virtuous 


THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  UPON  EDUCATION      351 

or  moral  character  in  the  young.  This  moral  training  is  to 
be  supplemented  bj^  an  industrial  and  military  education 
and  rounded  out  by  an  asthetic  education.  The  chief  em- 
phasis is  then  placed  on  the  cultivation  of  a  moral  or  vir- 
tuous character  (tao  teh).  Just  what  is  meant  by  "tao 
teh"  one  is  left  to  interpret  for  himself,  but  it  is  sufficiently 
clear  that  it  refers  to  public  morality  or  virtues,  for  the 
center  of  interest  in  providing  such  an  education  is  said  to 
be  for  the  welfare  of  the  state,  so  long  that  education  does 
not  impede  the  progress  of  the  world  and  interfere  with  the 
development  of  the  individual.  In  broader  terms,  "the 
general  education  aims  at  spreading  modern  knowledge  to 
all  young  nationals  in  order  that  they  may  be  qualified 
for  citizenship.  The  higher  education  is  directed  toward 
cultivating  the  habit  of  regarding  learning  as  sacred."  This 
conception  of  education  found  its  echo  in  the  three  personal 
messages  of  the  minister  issued  to  the  educational  admin- 
istrative officers,  teachers,  and  students  of  the  country. 

As  a  result  of  this  change  of  spirit  and  aim  of  education, 
many  interesting  problems  have  arisen.  All  reference 
books  and  text  books  relating  to  the  Manchu  reign,  con- 
taining sentiments  and  ideas  which  are  in  any  way  incon- 
sistent with  the  spirit  of  republican  form  of  government, 
have  either  to  be  discarded  or  modified.  Enterprising  pub- 
lishers and  text-book  writers  are  not  slow  to  recognize  the 
fresh  avenues  of  profit  and  are  busy  preparing  new  text- 
books of  a  new  kind  to  meet  the  new  demand.  Already 
many  of  these  so-called  republican  readers  have  been  placed 
on  the  market  and  are  enjoying  a  popularity  unexcelled  by 
any  other  text  books.  In  Kuangtung  and  several  other 
provinces  even  the  use  of  the  old  governmental  almanacs 
had  been  prohibited  for  the  reason  that  they  contain  much 
material  that  is  superstitious  and  is  therefore  not  fitted  for 
the  citizens  of  the  republic.  This  objection,  togetlier  with 
the  fact  that  the  western  calendar  has  been  adopted  in 
place  of  the  old  one,  has  necessitated  the  preparation  and 
publication  of  a  new  kind  of  official  almanac  for  use  among 
the  people. 

Since  the  organization  of  tlie  new  ministry  of  education, 


352  p.  w.  Kuo 

it  has  been  making  attempts  to  restore  the  status  of  educa- 
tion in  China.  Among  other  activities,  it  sent  a  deputy  to 
Japan  to  study  the  method  adopted  there  for  recognizing 
the  work  of  mission  schools.  During  the  summer  of  1912 
it  arranged  and  conducted  a  series  of  lectures  in  the  capital 
for  the  benefit  of  students  and  others  who  were  inclined  to 
studj^  and  had  spare  time  at  their  disposal.  It  also  ordered 
the  provincial  educational  authorities  to  start  half  day  sum- 
mer schools  for  the  same  purpose.  During  the  early  part 
of  the  summer  of  the  same  year  this  ministry  of  education 
summoned  a  conference  generally  known  as  the  Central 
Educational  Conference  to  meet  in  Peking,  July  10,  to 
August  10.  This  conference  was  called  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  the  knowledge,  experience,  and  result  of  delibera- 
tion of  the  educators  of  the  country  with  a  view  to  promote 
the  cause  of  education,  hasten  its  progress,  and  help  the 
government  to  adopt  a  sound  educational  policy.  In  order 
to  insure  the  highest  efficiency  and  best  result  from  the  con- 
ference, everj^  effort  was  made  to  secure  fully  qualified  men, 
including  graduates  of  normal  schools  in  China  or  abroad, 
who  have  had  at  least  three  years  of  experience  in  teaching, 
and  educators  of  national  renown.  The  delegation  of  the 
conference  was  chosen  according  to  the  following  manner: 
Two  from  each  of  the  twenty-two  provinces  and  also  from 
Mongolia  and  Tibet;  one  representing  Chinese  residing 
abroad;  fifteen  from  teachers  and  administrative  officers  of 
schools  under  the  direct  control  of  the  ministry  of  education; 
ten  from  the  ministries  of  interior,  finance,  agriculture,  com- 
merce, and  industry,  army  and  na\'y;  and  others  specially 
invited  by  the  ministry  of  education.  The  conference  was 
conducted  under  the  direction  of  the  minister.  Among  the 
problems  presented  for  discussion  were  the  following :  School 
government;  division  between  central  control  and  local  con- 
trol of  schools;  education  of  Mongolians,  Turkestans,  and 
Tibetans;  the  giving  of  special  privileges  to  elementary  school 
teachers  and  the  certification  of  elementary  school  teachers; 
the  worshipping  of  Confucius,  the  adoption  of  a  national 
anthem,  and  the  organization  of  higher  school  educational 
conference.     In  all,  ninety-two  problems  were  submitted  to 


THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  UPON  EDUCATION      353 

the  conference  for  solution,  but  during  the  nineteen  regular 
meetings  that  were  held,  only  twenty-three  more  important 
ones  of  these  were  satisfactorily  settled  and  recommended 
to  the  ministry  of  education.  Although  the  body  of  edu- 
cators forming  the  delegation  of  the  conference  were  in- 
vested with  no  legislative  power,  nevertheless,  the  sugges- 
tions and  recommendations  made  to  the  ministry  after 
careful  deliberation  exerted  a  strong  influence  over  the  edu- 
cational policy  of  the  country,  as  could  easily  be  seen  by 
comparing  the  resolutions  of  the  conference  with  the  meas- 
ures of  reorganizing  the  educational  system  put  into  force 
after  the  closing  of  the  conference  through  the  various  edu- 
cational ordinances  made  public. 

Before  passing  from  the  Central  Educational  Conference, 
it  is  interesting  to  note  a  controversy  which  came  before 
the  conference  for  settlement.  Early  in  the  summer  it  was 
noised  abroad  that  Mr.  Chung  Wing  Kwong,  commissioner 
of  education  in  the  Kwangtung  province,  was  sending  an 
official  delegate  to  the  Central  Educational  Conference 
charged  with  the  task  of  urging  the  conference  to  endorse 
the  idea  that  in  the  future  the  public  schools  of  China  should 
not  permit  the  worshipping  of  Confucius  on  the  ground  that 
all  religions  should  be  excluded  from  the  schools;  for  this 
is  the  trend  of  the  leading  republican  nations,  and  more 
and  more  the  governments  of  these  enlightened  countries  are 
excluding  religion  from  the  sphere  of  national  education 
and  priests  from  interfering  therein.  The  suggestion,  which 
is  but  a  sign  of  the  new  movement  toward  general  reform, 
that  the  government  authorities  have  been  pushing  forward 
with  great  rapidity,  proved  to  be  too  radical  not  only  to  the 
conservative  Chinese,  but  also  to  some  of  the  more  cautious 
of  the  progressives.  Immediately  protests  were  raised  from 
all  directions.  Many  sent  appeals  to  Chung  Wing  Kwong 
pointing  out  the  mistake  which,  in  their  opinion,  he  was 
making  in  advocating  not  to  permit  Confucius  to  be  wor- 
shipped by  the  students.  These  protests,  however,  were 
but  the  opening  shots  in  the  warfare.  In  Canton,  the  mat- 
ter was  brought  before  a  large  gathering  of  the  members 
of  the  assembly,  who  apparently  were  united  in  their  wish 


354  p.  w.  Kuo 

that  such  a  course  should  be  resisted.  At  this  meeting  it 
was  agreed  that  as  Confucianism  is  not  a  reUgion,  therefore 
it  is  wrong  to  class  Confucius  with  the  founders  of  religion, 
and  that  it  is  an  insult  to  class  Confucianism  with  these 
religions,  for  Confucius  had  nothing  to  do  with  inducing 
men  to  worship  the  gods.  His  influence  was  all  on  the  side 
of  virtue  and  knowledge;  therefore  his  influence  should  be 
extolled  and  the  sphere  of  his  influence  enlarged.  In  spite 
of  these  protests,  the  matter  was  duly  brought  before  the 
Central  Educational  Conference,  and,  contrary  to  the  expec- 
tation of  many,  the  conference  strongly  endorsed  the  sug- 
gestion made  by  the  commissioner  of  education  in  Canton, 
and  recommended  that  the  clause  providing  for  the  worship 
of  Confucius  in  public  schools  be  omitted  from  the  new 
school  law.  That  this  recommendation  has  been  accepted  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  educational  ordinance  regard- 
ing rites  and  ceremonies  used  in  school,  a  very  significant 
injunction  occurs,  namely,  that  in  the  observance  of  anni- 
versaries of  any  kind,  no  worshipping  and  religious  cere- 
mony of  any  kind  are  to  be  used. 

The  educational  activity  of  the  ministry  of  education 
has  been,  to  a  great  extent,  curtailed  or  handicapped  by  the 
financial  stress  of  the  central  government.  According  to 
the  budget  prepared  for  the  new  republic,  an  annual  sum 
of  Taels  12,801,468  was  provided  for  the  ordinary  expendi- 
ture in  educational  affairs.  In  addition,  a  sum  of  Taels 
3,348,061  was  specified  to  cover  the  necessary  provisional 
expenditure.  Considering  the  gigantic  task  that  is  before 
the  ministry,  the  allowance  made  for  education  is  by  no 
means  liberal,  and  even  the  fund  thus  specified  has  been 
thus  far  slow  in  coming  during  the  present  period  of  read- 
justment. For  this  reason  the  ministry  of  education  has 
been  somewhat  slow  in  carrying  out  what  it  proposes  to  do. 
Meanwhile  it  has  been  devising  means  not  only  to  eliminate 
as  much  waste  as  possible,  either  by  abolishing  institutions 
that  have  outhved  their  usefulness  or  by  combining  forces, 
but  also  to  exercise  the  strictest  economy  in  the  administra- 
tion of  educational  funds.  Thus  the  Hanlin  Academy  in 
Peking,  once  the  center  of  literarj^  activity  and  the  chief 


THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  UPON  EDUCATION      355 

seat  of  the  educational  system  of  China,  has  been  recently 
abolished.  No  students  from  the  Tsing-hua  College  were 
sent  abroad  during  the  past  year.  The  ministry,  however, 
is  doing  its  best,  so  far  as  its  financial  condition  would 
allow,  to  restore  the  institutions  which  come  under  its  direct 
control.  The  Peking  University  has  been  reopened.  This 
is  also  true  with  the  Tsing-hua  College  in  Peking,  and  com- 
petitive examinations  were  held  last  summer  with  a  view  to 
selecting  a  number  of  students  to  be  trained  before  sending 
them  to  America  to  study.  The  central  government  has 
also  been  able  to  send  abroad  twenty-five  of  the  revolution- 
ary leaders  to  receive  a  western  education;  fourteen  of 
these  have  come  to  America. 

In  the  provinces  the  financial  stress  is  less  stringent  than 
the  central  government,  and  efforts  for  the  extension  of 
educational  privileges  and  facilities  have  been  pushing  for- 
ward with  considerable  rapidity.  Provincial  as  well  as  local 
educational  associations  are  showing  great  activity.  Dur- 
ing the  month  of  August  1912,  examinations  were  held  in 
Tsinanfu,  Shantung  province,  for  students  who  are  desirous 
of  being  sent  to  the  United  States  for  college  education. 
The  Kwangtung  province,  in  spite  of  its  financial  stress, 
managed  to  send  during  the  past  summer  100  students 
abroad,  20  to  America,  10  to  Europe,  and  70  to  Japan. 
The  Kiangsi  provincial  government  has  recently  sent  60 
students  abroad  for  advanced  study.  Of  this  number,  16 
were  sent  to  America,  1  to  England,  1  to  Germany,  2  to 
France,  2  to  Belgium,  and  the  rest  to  Japan.  Early  in  the 
year  of  1912,  the  Commercial  Press  in  Shanghai  undertook 
to  supply  a  Chinese  educational  exhibit  for  the  Teachers' 
College  of  Columbia  University.  An  announcement  of  the 
fact  was  made  by  the  said  press,  and  within  the  course  of 
two  or  three  months,  some  six  hundred  schools  responded 
and  over  seven  thousand  articles  were  sent  in.  Before  the 
exhibit  was  sent  from  Shanghai,  an  opportunity  was  given  to 
the  public  to  visit  it,  and  in  the  course  of  three  days  over 
ten  thousand  people  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity, 
showing  something  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people  toward 
things  educational.     These  and  other  facts  which  might  be 


356  p.  w.  Kuo 

mentioned,  indicate  clearly  that  the  provincial  authorities, 
as  well  as  the  people,  fully  realize  the  importance  of  educa- 
tion in  the  national  life  of  the  new  republic  and  are  exerting 
every  effort  to  develop  the  system  of  education  both  ex- 
tensively and  intensively. 

At  present  the  government  and  the  people  show  a  strong 
tendency  to  emphasize  primary  education.  Some  adjust- 
ments and  combinations  are  being  planned  in  higher  educa- 
tion, and  the  money  thus  saved  will  be  devoted  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  more  primary  schools  of  both  grades  in  order  to 
hasten  universal  education,  which  is  the  goal  of  the  new  edu- 
cational policy  and  is  a  problem  which  has  loomed  large  in 
the  minds  of  the  Chinese  statesmen  and  educators  since  the 
establishment  of  the  republic.  The  charge  has  often  been 
made  to  the  effect  that  in  introducing  modern  educational 
institutions,  China  made  the  mistake  of  starting  at  the  top 
and  building  downw^ards,  and  in  her  anxiety  for  universi- 
ties, high  schools,  and  middle  schools,  she  overlooked  the 
importance  of  the  primary  schools.  Assuming  this  charge 
to  have  been  true,  the  mistake  is  now  being  remedied  and 
primary  education  is  now  receiving  the  attention  which  it 
deserv^es. 

One  more  important  tendency  remains  to  be  noted.  The 
statesmen  and  educators  of  China,  realizing  that  manifold 
difficulties  are  still  standing  in  the  way  to  make  education 
accessible  to  all,  and  that  the  stability  of  the  republic  is 
largely  dependent  upon  the  intelligence  of  its  citizens,  are 
now  emphasizing  the  importance  of  popularizing  educa- 
tion through  means  other  than  the  school,  such  as  news- 
papers, art  galleries,  theatres,  public  gardens,  museums, 
libraries,  zoological  and  botanical  gardens,  public  lectures, 
and  moving  pictures.  It  is  their  belief  that  these  quasi- 
educational  institutions  will  be  able  to  exert  a  strong  influ- 
ence of  educational  value  to  the  uneducated  men  and  women 
as  well  as  those  children  who  are  unable  to  go  to  school,  and 
that  through  these  institutions  a  mighty  social  revolution 
could  be  effected.  Already  movements  to  put  these  ideas 
into  practice  have  been  reported.  Early  in  the  spring  of 
last  year,  the  formation  of  the  Social  Reform  Association 


THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  UPON  EDUCATION      357 

was  announced.  Among  the  organizers  of  that  associa- 
tion are  such  distinguished  men  as  Premier  Tang;  minister 
of  navy,  Liu;  minister  of  education,  Tsai;  minister  of  agri- 
culture and  forestry,  Sung;  and  others  equally  prominent  in 
the  political  and  educational  life  of  the  new  republic.  In 
an  article  announcing  the  formation  of  the  said  associa- 
tion, some  thirty-six  different  social  problems  were  given  as 
reforms  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  association,  should  be 
vigorously  advanced.  In  Kwangtung  and  several  other  prov- 
inces, the  provincial  educational  authorities  have  appointed 
through  competitive  examination,  a  number  of  lecturers 
to  give  popular  lectures  on  topics  such  as  self-govern- 
ment, education,  hygiene,  and  philanthropy.  Attention  has 
already  been  called  to  the  fact  that  the  present  ministry  of 
education  has  a  bureau,  known  as  the  bureau  of  social 
education,  the  duty  of  which  is  to  advance  the  whole  move- 
ment, namely,  to  popularize  education  through  quasi-edu- 
cational institutions. 

This  treatment  of  the  educational  situation  created  by  the 
revolution  is  necessarily  incomplete.  Perhaps  enough  has 
been  said  to  indicate  the  fact  that  the  work  of  reconstruction 
in  education,  as  in  other  phases  of  China's  national  life,  has 
already  well  begun  and  begun  with  a  great  determination  to 
win.  The  problem  of  supplying  educational  facilities  to 
China's  millions  is  so  gigantic  in  its  scope  and  so  complicated 
in  its  character,  that  it  calls  for  not  only  the  highest  pro- 
fessional skill,  but  a  great  deal  of  enthusiasm,  patriotism, 
and  altruism  for  its  successful  solution.  The  system  existing 
today,  being  still  in  its  infancy,  is  naturally  full  of  imper- 
fections and  has  plenty  of  room  for  improvement,  especially 
when  it  is  compared  with  the  systems  of  other  enlightened 
nations,  most  of  which  have  taken  centuries  of  adjustment 
and  toil  before  reaching  their  present  stage  of  excellence, 
and  even  they  still  have  some  room  for  improvement. 
New  China,  however,  is  confident  that  given  sufficient  time 
she  will  be  able  to  work  out  her  own  salvation  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  the  problem  is  fraught  with  difTiculties.  For 
the  present  she  needs  time  to  regain  her  breath  from  the 
shock  which  she  experienced  in  the  transition  from  monarchy 


358  p.  w.  Kuo 

into  republic.  She  needs  time  to  consider  what  are  the 
best  elements  in  western  education  which  could  be  utilized 
to  her  best  interests,  and  what  are  the  best  elements  in  her 
own  system  which  have  proved  best  for  China  through  the 
centuries  of  her  history  and  which  should  be  preserved  with 
all  vigor  and  tenacity.  In  short,  she  needs  time  to  read- 
just herself  to  the  new  conditions  which  now  surround  her. 
Meanwhile,  young  China  believes  that  help  and  cooperation 
from  the  educators  of  the  West  are  not  only  highly  desirable 
but  in  a  way  indispensable  to  a  speedy  success.  For 
this  reason  she  favors  and  welcomes  every  effort  put  forth 
by  all  well-wishers  of  China  toward  the  solution  of  the 
problem  and  the  attainment  of  the  high  ideal  which  she 
has  set  before  her.  From  the  teachers  and  educators  of 
the  West  China  expects  to  find  sympathy  and  encourage- 
ment which  come  with  the  consciousness  of  a  common  pur- 
pose, and  to  gain,  in  no  small  measure,  the  inspiration  of 
their  highest  ideals. 


MORAL  AND  SPIRITUAL  ELEMENTS  IN  THE 

CHINESE  REVOLUTION  AND  IN  THE 

PRESENT  OUTLOOK 

By  Rev.  Charles  L.  Storrs,  Shaowu,  China,  Foochow  Mission 

Two  or  three  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution' 
a  non-Christian  editor  in  one  of  his  leaders  on  "China's 
Needs"  in  the  Chung  Wai  Jih  Pao  wrote:  "Many  are  talking 
of  revolution  ....  Has  it  been  considered  that 
we  in  China  have  had  far  more  revolutions  than  they  in 
Europe?  Europe  has  always  gained  by  its  revolutions,  but 
we  have  gained  no  national  uplift  from  ours.  Why?  Be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  what  has  characterized  European 
revolutions — moral  and  spiritual  forces."  It  is  the  object 
of  this  address  to  show  that  such  elements  have  not  been 
absent  from  the  overturning  of  the  past  twelvemonth  among 
that  remarkable  people.  If  what  this  Chinese  editor  says 
is  true,  then  the  events  of  1911  and  1912  stand  out  unique 
not  only  among  the  fifty-three  attempts  which  since  the 
first  in  1646  engineered  by  the  "Heaven  and  Earth  Society" 
have  aimed  to  depose  the  now  abdicated  Ta  Ching  dynasty, 
but  unique  in  the  long  history  of  4906  years — the  date  under 
which  the  republicans  in  their  enthusiams  issued  their  first 
proclamations. 

There  will  be  no  attempt  to  separate  moral  from  spiritual 
forces.  Indeed  spiritual  or  religious  elements  as  such  do  not 
seem  to  have  entered  into  the  stream  of  events.  Neither 
is  it  thought  to  show  how  the  whole  movement  has  been 
undergirt  with  certain  great  moral  laws  and  that  the  out- 
come has  been  a  logical  consequence  of  them.  Sufficient 
for  our  purpose  if  from  the  keleidoscopic  rush  of  events,  we 
can  seize  hold  here  and  there  of  a  few  of  those  golden  strands 
of  human  activity  that  give  life  its  true  significance,  untwist 
some  of  the  more  important  ones  to  reveal  more  clearly  their 
component  ethical  threads,  and  so  come  to  realize  that  it 

359 


360  CHARLES   L.    STORES 

is  these  that  ha\c  held  the  whole  together.  In  this  way  the 
conviction  will  come  to  us  that  the  significance  of  the  Revolu- 
tion in  China  lies  not  in  the  immense  number  of  people 
involved,  not  in  the  magnitude  nor  richness  of  the  territory, 
not  in  the  uniqueness  nor  swiftness  of  its  outward  accom- 
plishment, but  in  the  coming  into  this  great  complex  world 
of  men  and  things  in  which  we  live  of  a  new  factor,  the 
greatest,  the  most  bewildering  of  any  that  have  yet  entered 
in.  That  factor  is  the  Chinese  people  setting  their  feet  in 
the  paths  that  the  eternal  laws  of  moral  development  have 
laid  down  for  human  destiny. 

1.  First  then  among  the  more  apparent  moral  and  spiritual 
elements  of  the  Chinese  Revolution  must  be  mentioned 
enlightenment,  coming  primarily  through  western  education. 
Diplomacy  and  trade  would  claim  but  a  small  share  in  this 
contribution.  The  part  that  western  education  has  played 
fostered  first  and  foremost  by  Christian  missions,  and  since 
1905  an  objective  to  which  both  government  and  people 
liave  given  themselves  unstintedly,  will  be  adequately 
treated  in  other  addresses  of  this  conference.  It  needs  to  be 
given  a  logical  and  strong  emphasis  here  because,  just  as 
the  conscience  and  personality  of  an  individual  can  receive 
no  large  or  true  development  aside  from  increasing  intelli- 
gence, no  more  the  ethical  and  national  ideals  of  a  people. 
Yet  fascinating  as  is  the  theme,  I  yield  it  the  more  readily 
remembering  that  enlightenment  as  the  equipment  of  the 
young  Turk  party  seems  not  to  have  fulfilled  the  promise  of 
their  brilliant  constitutional  movement,  and  Japan,  with  an 
average  of  school  attendance  that  outdoes  some  states  of 
our  own  loved  America,  felt  constrained  by  the  ethical  wab- 
bliness  of  its  modern  society  last  February  to  call  a  meeting 
of  the  leaders  of  its  three  great  religions  to  see  if  the  moral 
foundations  might  not  be  made  more  secure.  Still  it  is 
not  without  significance  that  the  overturning  in  China  is 
often  spoken  of  as  a  students'  revolution. 

Aside  from  the  part  that  modern  education  has  played  in 
thus  enlightening  the  Chinese  people  there  ought  to  be  men- 
tioned right  here  the  tremendous  influence  of  the  periodicals 
and  books  of  the  Christian  Literature  Society  and  in  a  lesser 


MORAL  ELEMENTS   IN   CHINESE   REVOLUTION  361 

measure  tl?e  various  tract  societies.  Put  with  these  the 
hundreds  of  Chinese  newspapers,  good  and  bad,  and  it 
becomes  less  difficult  to  understand  how  new  ideas  permeated 
the  whole  country.  Kang  Yy  Wei,  who  after  the  imprison- 
ment of  his  master,  the  former  emperor,  Kuang  Hsu,  from 
Japan  directed  the  fortunes  of  the  so-called  ''Reform" 
party,  had  newspapers  in  nearly  every  treaty  port  and 
although  harried  by  the  officials,  found  haven  in  the  foreign 
concessions  or  in  Hongkong  and  continued  his  propaganda, 
almost  as  revolutionary  as  that  of  the  republicans  themselves, 
up  to  the  commencement  of  the  struggle. 

The  revolutionaries  had  the  keenest  appreciation  of  the 
moral  value  of  publicity.  From  the  first  they  took  not 
only  the  people  but  foreign  powers  into  their  confidence.  A 
first  move  of  their  provisional  government  was  to  appoint 
one  of  their  cleverest,  best  informed  men,  Wu  Ting  Fang, 
former  minister  at  Washington,  as.  their  minister  of  foreign 
affairs.  To  him  and  another  of  their  best  leaders.  Wen  Tsung 
lao,  they  gave  the  task  of  keeping  the  outside  world  informed 
as  to  the  inwardness  from  the  revolutionary  view  point  of 
each  event  or  complication.  In  the  most  critical  hour  of 
the  struggle  when,  with  the  utmost  good  will  for  Yuan 
Shi  Kai  and  his  cause,  the  powers  hesitated  to  let  him  receive 
any  financial  backing,  these  men  checkmated  every  move 
that  Peking  made  by  the  sympathy  for  their  cause  in  the 
world  at  large,  and  by  showing  the  courts  and  cabinets 
abroad  just  what  grip  they  had  on  the  south  and  the  Yantse 
valley  with  all  the  commerical  interest  of  foreigners  involved. 
A  little  of  it  may  have  been  what  Americans  call  ''bluff," 
but  the  game  was  not  played  in  the  dark,  so  far  as  they  were 
concerned,  and  the  forces  of  light  with  their  concomitants 
of  sympathy  and  trust  seemed  predestined  to  win. 

2.  After  enlightenment  as  a  moral  element  in  the  Chinese 
Revolution  must  be  mentioned  a  new  stirring  and  vigor  of 
moral  conscience. 

It  is  rather  startling  to  find  that  of  the  ten  shortcomings 
for  which  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  specifically  arraigned  the  Ta 
Ching  dynasty  eight  are  distinct  charges  of  moral  failure. 
Even  the  other  two  the  second, — "they  have  opposed  our 


302  CHARLES   L.    STORES 

intellectual  and  material  progress;" — and  the  sixth, —  "they 
suppress  liberty  of  speech" — are  at  no  great  remove  from 
the  moral  realm.  The  avarieiousness  of  the  imperial  clan 
was  so  great  that  even  in  their  hour  of  supreme  distress  when 
Yuan  Shi  Kai  had  exhausted  every  resource  to  obtain 
money  absolutely  necessary  to  prevent  the  government  from 
falling  into  anarchy  with  an  unpaid  soldiery,  it  did  not  occur 
to  any  of  them  to  offer  help  from  their  immense  accumula- 
tion of  treasure.  Yuan  had  to  go  personally  and  beg  a 
paltry  6,000,000  taels,  enough  at  best  to  tide  things  over  less 
than  a  month.  Yet  when  the  comptroller  of  the  household 
made  his  report  after  the  death  of  Tze  Hsi,  the  old  dowager 
empress,  the  privy  treasure  was  12,000,000  taels  gold,  and 
990,000,000  taels  silver.  It  is  said  also  that  the  princes 
had  deposits  in  foreign  banks  amounting  to  $66,000,000. 
However  that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  Duke  TasiTao, 
brother  of  the  regent,  whom  he  had  placed  over  the  war  office, 
grew  fabulously  rich  through  his  sales  of  commissions  in 
less  than  three  years.  So  extreme  did  the  evil  become  that 
the  revolutionaries  were  able  before  the  struggle  to  put 
their  generals  in  command  of  the  most  unportant  divisions 
and  brigades  of  the  army.  The  fact  that,  when  the  crisis 
came  and  some  of  the  princes  were  still  for  fighting  it  out, 
forty-six  generals  of  the  northern  army  sent  a  telegram 
demanding  the  abdication  of  the  throne  and  the  setting  up  of 
a  repubhcan  form  of  government,  shows  that  many  of  those 
generals  still  held  their  commissions,  as  well  as  suggests  a 
suspicion  that  Yuan  had  come  to  the  place  where  he  could 
play  on  the  winning  side. 

From  top  to  bottom  official  life  in  China  was  unthinkably 
corrupt.  Sir  Robert  Hart,  than  whom  no  westerner  better 
knew  the  inside  of  officialdom,  said  that  if  the  revenues  of 
China  were  honestly  collected  and  honestly  administered  they 
would  go  six  times  as  far  as  they  did. 

Personally  I  feel  very  certain  that  the  splendid  sweep  of 
the  anti-opium  movement  through  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land  had  very  much  to  do  with  this  quickening  of  the 
moral  conscience  against  the  267  years  of  misrule  which  the 
Manchus  had  given  China.     That  great  reform,   already 


MORAL   ELEMENTS   IN   CHINESE   REVOLUTION  363 

four-fifths  made  good,  and  accomplishing  more  in  its  five 
years  of  agitation  than  we  in  America  have  with  a  hundred 
years  of  our  toying  with  the  hquor  evil,  surprised  not  only 
the  western  world;  it  surprised  the  Chinese  people  them- 
selves. It  revealed  reserves  of  moral  power  of  wliich  they 
had  not  been  conscious. 

It  was  hardly  a  fair  indictment  of  the  Manchus  made  by 
Ma  Soo,  secretary  to  Dr.  Sun  when  president  of  the  provi- 
sional government,  to  say  at  a  great  republican  rally  regard- 
ing the  new  compact  with  Great  Britain,  signed  May  8, 
1911,  "The  opportunity  (to  free  China)  came,  but  they 
(the  Manchus)  would  not  take  it.  They  sold  their  people 
for  an  increased  revenue  of  35 1)  taels  per  chest  of  opium;" 
for  from  the  beginning  the  throne  had  shown  earnestness 
and  sincerity  in  this  great  reform.  It  was  rather  the  scorn 
and  unfaith  of  Great  Britain  that  the  revolutionaries  should 
have  pointed  to. 

''Heaven  hears  through  the  ears  of  the  people"  was  a 
quotation  from  their  most  ancient  philosopher.  Shun,  that 
the  Chinese  often  had  thrust  at  them  during  those  months 
and  years  of  waking  moral  consciousness.  They  were 
but  living  up  to  their  highest  and  noblest  traditions  when, 
with  the  plain  evidences  of  hopeless  misrule  on  everyhand 
and  bUnd  and  stubborn  opposition  to  aU  sound  progress 
clearly  manifest,  they  came  to  realize  that  "heaven  had 
withdrawn  its  favor"  from  their  rulers,  and  accordingly 
prepared  their  vials  of  wrath. 

Mr.  Yung  Wing,  so  intimately  connected  with  Chinese 
student  life  in  America  since  its  inception  in  1872,  in  a 
letter  to  a  friend  shortly  before  his  death  in  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut, April  12,  1912,  wrote, — "The  late  political  revolu- 
tion in  its  sweep  over  eighteen  provinces  has  accomplished 
two  wonderful  historical  facts  of  the  century,  one  the  down- 
fall of  the  Manchu  dynasty,  the  other  the  rising  up  of  the 
Chung  Hua  Republic;  neither  of  which  can  be  possible 
without  our  full  recognition  of  God  in  human  history.  The 
laws  which  govern  the  rise  and  fall  of  principalities  and 
empires  have  been  foreordained  by  the  Deity  himself;  and 
when  a  dynasty  like  the  Manchu  was  swept  away  like  chaff 


364  CHARLES   L.    STORRS 

before  the  wliirlwind,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  dynasty  has 
viohited  some  of  the  fuiuhimerital  principles  of  the  moral 
universe.  Upon  investigation  we  will  find  that  the  Manchu 
Dj-nasty  since  its  supremacy  over  the  Chinese  Empire 
for  nearly  three  centuries  have  not  observed  justice  to  the 
people,  nor  righteousness,  nor  equality,  nor  truth.  If  the 
Manchus  had  been  scrupulous  in  maintaining  the  cardinal 
virtues  in  their  administrative  system  as  taught  by  Con- 
fucius and  the  sages  of  old,  they  would  never  have  been 
allowed  to  abdicate."  From  words  like  these  it  is  easy  to 
see  how  such  a  roused  moral  consciousness  as  we  have  been 
noting  rises  clearly  into  the  spiritual  realm. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  must  not  be  concluded  that 
the  revolution  was  a  great  white  crusade.  There  were 
plenty  of  rascals  who  simply  went  on  following  their  own 
fortunes  with  the  new  turn  of  the  tide,  and  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  blind  and  foolish  enthusiasm  that  the  country 
had  found  the  panacea  for  all  its  woes  and  weaknesses;  but 
despite  this  we  must  not  fail  to  note  that  the  great  moral 
motive  firing  the  energies  of  most  of  the  leaders  and  the  best 
spirits  was  fundamentally  sound  and  high,  much  more  so 
than  the  commercial,  land  hungry  diplomacy  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  powers  encamped  in  Peking. 

3.  A  third  moral  and  spiritual  element  for  us  to  note  was  a 
new,  almost  intoxicating  self  consciousness  among  the  Chinese 
people.  This  is  in  marked  contrast  with  the  inchoate  spirit 
of  old  China.  That  led  us  to  regard  the  nation  as  a  mere 
congeries  of  land  grubbing  people.  Just  as  the  new  China- 
man has  come  to  a  higher  and  clearer  sense  of  personality 
than  he  has  before  known,  so  the  whole  country  in  its  livest 
stratum  of  society  showed  that  it  had  come  to  a  higher  plane 
of  national  consciousness.  The  very  fact  that  the  revolu- 
tion aimed  simply  at  getting  rid  of  the  dynasty  and  not  at 
setting  up  some  great  hero  or  deliverer  on  the  throne  is 
witness  of  this.  China  aimed  to  set  herself  in  the  chair  of 
sovereignty,  and  that  so  large  and  able  and  representative 
a  proportion  of  the  people  could  and  did  respond  to  the  ideal 
has  startled  the  world. 

A  new  sense  of  unity  then  is  one  of  the  first  things  that 


MORAL   ELEMENTS   IN   CHINESE   REVOLUTION  365 

rivet  our  attention  in  this  element  of  self-consciousness.  Of 
course  plenty  of  provincial  jealousies  and  section  differ- 
ences were  brought  into  play  but  the  fact  that  eventually 
they  were  successfully  subordinated  to  the  common  ideal 
is  the  outstanding  fact.  Among  the  first  pronouncements 
of  the  new  government  was  one  that  a  foremost  aim  should 
be  the  consolidation  of  the  five  races  of  which  the  inhab- 
itants of  this  tremendous  land  with  some  reason  have  re- 
garded themselves  composed,  making  of  the  Hans,  the  Man- 
chus,  the  Mongolians,  the  Mohammedans,  and  the  Tibetans 
one  great  homogeneous  nation.  They  proclaimed  the  fact 
to  the  world  in  the  stripes  of  their  new  flag.  Even  the  van- 
quished Manchus  were  included  without  resentment  in  the 
new  democratic  ideal. 

In  the  early  weeks  of  the  revolution,  the  break-up  of  the 
country  into  small  provincial  republics  seemed  like  a  contra- 
diction of  this  spirit  of  unity.  That  view  was  due  less  to 
local  ambitions,  than  to  the  misunderstandings  by  the  out- 
siders of  the  real  program  of  the  revolutionaries  which  was 
not  to  sweep  the  country  with  fire  and  sword,  but  only  to 
seize  those  positions  of  government  and  armed  force  which 
it  was  necessary  for  them  to  hold  until  such  times  as  the  suc- 
cess of  the  movement  made  the  consolidation  of  the  whole 
swift  and  sure. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  new  spirit  of  unity  has 
none  of  the  old  exclusiveness  or  anti-foreign  feeling  in  it. 
Indeed  that  element,  heretofore  thought  undeniably  char- 
acteristic of  the  Chinese  is  maintained  to  be  wholly  an 
accretion  of  Manchu  misrule.  Dr.  Sun  says  in  a  recent 
article  called  "My  Pieminiscences:"  "People  in  Europe 
think  that  the  Chinese  wish  to  keep  themselves  apart  from 
foreign  nations,  and  that  the  Chinese  ports  could  be  opened 
only  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  That  is  all  wrong.  His- 
tory furnishes  us  with  many  proofs  that,  before  the  arrival 
of  the  Manchus,  the  Chinese  were  in  close  relations  with  the 
neighboring  countries,  and  that  they  showed  no  dislike  to- 
ward foreign  traders  and  missionaries.  Foreign  merchants 
were  allowed  to  travel  freely  through  the  Empire.  During 
the  Ming  dynasty  there  was  no  anti-foreign  spirit." 


306  CHARLES   L.    STORES 

Tlie  Ixcpublican  Advocate  one  of  the  journals  of  the  new 
day  says  in  its  first  issue:  "The  spirit  wliich  China  has  shown 
in  lier  great  struggle  for  poHtical  Hberty  has  been  appre- 
ciated by  the  ^yest,  and  the  friendly  attitude  of  the  western 
nations  towards  China  has  been  equally  appreciated.  Our 
mission  therefore  is  clear.  Our  policy  is  not  antagonism 
but  cooperaiion.  China  desires  to  be  a  free  independent 
nation  not  in  the  old  sense  of  isolation  and  exclusion,  but  in 
the  more  rational  sense  of  unobstructed  individual  develop- 
ment on  the  basis  of  cooperation  and  reciprocity;  and  if  we 
succeed  in  attaining  this  objective  we  shall  have  realized  our 
cherished  ambition." 

The  world  is  still  wondering  that  so  soon  after  the  cata- 
clysm of  1900,  so  great  and  portentous  a  struggle  as  this  revo- 
lution could  be  carried  through  by  the  same  people  with 
hardly  any  hurt  of  foreign  life  or  property.  If  with  the 
queue  and  the  kowtow  the  Chinese  can  shake  off  the  Manchu 
bred  dislike  of  the  foreigner,  and  forget  the  foreigner's  abomi- 
nable ill  treatment  of  more  than  a  century,  he  is  showing 
us  moral  stamina  of  no  mean  order. 

Another  element  in  this  new  self  consciousness  of  the  na- 
tion has  been  its  rousing  spirit  of  patriotism.  That  pecuHar 
attachment  of  the  heart  for  one's  native  land  as  superla- 
tively his  own  unexpectedly  flowered  forth  in  wide  profusion. 
"Give  us  mountains  and  rivers"  was  a  slogan  constantly 
used  against  the  hated  Manchus  and  their  corrupting 
grip  on  the  whole  inmost  life  of  the  land.  The  patience, 
persistence,  and  undaunted  faith  of  the  revolutionaries 
baffled  in  seventeen  unsuccessful  attempts  to  launch  their 
program,  but  for  fifteen  years  holding  steadily  and  cannily 
to  their  course,  and  motived  as  the  event  has  proved  with 
much  less  of  self-interest  than  similar  upturnings  in  the 
world's  history  reveal,  have  shown  a  quaUty  of  patriotism 
in  the  Chinese  of  which  the  West  little  dreamed.  Dr.  Sun 
tells  of  a  nameless  Chinese  laundryman  who  one  evening 
after  the  great  revolutionist  had  been  addressing  his  fellow 
countrymen  in  Philadelphia,  "called  at  my  hotel,  and 
thrusting  a  linen  bag  upon  me  went  away  without  a  word. 
It  contained  his  entire  savings  for  twenty  years."     As  I 


MORAL   ELEMENTS   IN   CHINESE   REVOLUTION  367 

came  away  from  China  last  December  and  touched  at  the 
various  ports  of  the  southeast  coast,  I  found  scores  of  well-to- 
do  Chinese  flocking  back  from  the  Straits  Settlements, 
Saigon,  Rangoon,  Java,  and  the  Philippines  with  their 
entire  fortunes  turned  into  available  cash,  ready  to  throw 
it  and  themselves  into  the  struggle.  Some  of  course  were 
hotheads,  some  were  chagrined  to  find  the  seats  of  the  mighty 
already  occupied,  but  the  spirit  of  genuine  patriotism  which 
as  a  class  they  manifested  made  those  of  us  in  the  south 
know  that  the  end  of  the  Manchu  south  of  the  Yangtse  had 
already  come. 

Something  like  the  spirit  of  the  crusades  seemed  to  get 
hold  of  the  students  of  government  and  mission  institutions 
alike.  Volunteer  regiments  were  largely  recruited  from 
them  and  faster  than  they  could  be  supplied  with  arms  and 
equipment.  President  Edmunds  showed  us  at  breakfast 
this  morning  a  photo  print  of  a  group  of  Canton  Christian 
College  students  who  in  two  weeks  time  raised  $55,000,  for 
relief  of  the  govermnent  in  its  dire  financial  straits.  School 
girls  eluded  their  teachers  and  ran  away  to  join  uniformed 
Red  Cross  corps.  The  splendid  heroism  of  some  of  the  raw 
troops,  who  scarcely  knew  which  was  the  firing  end  of  their 
rifles,  before  the  thoroughly  drilled  imperialists  with  their 
1911  German  machine  guns  at  Hankow  is  one  of  the  most 
stirring  things  in  war  story.  It  is  said  that  some  battalions 
whose  arms  had  not  yet  arrived  actually  went  out  upon  the 
shell  swept  field  as  they  were,  so  determined  were  they  to 
die  for  their  country.  Never  again  will  the  West  accuse  the 
Chinaman  of  lack  of  patriotism.  He  has  always  had  it,  I 
think,  but  expressed  in  terms  which  we  could  not  understand. 
Now  it  has  been  translated  into  our  own  speech. 

Another  element  in  this  new  self  consciousness  of  the 
Chinese  is  an  aroused  imagination.  No  one  but  a  westerner 
who  has  come  to  know  how  the  thought  of  a  Chinese  seems 
inexorably  to  flow  in  the  mold  made  for  it  by  the  centuries, 
can  feel  what  a  tremendous  moral  asset  is  here.  Many  things 
have  been  contributing  to  it.  I  will  mention  only  one,  the 
use  of  English.     English  is  the  conmiercial  and  diplomatic 


368  CHARLES   L.    STORES 

lanp:iiap;o  of  the  Far  East,  and,  as  a  remarkable  edict  some 
two  years  ago  informed  the  startled  world,  the  language  of 
all  higher  education  and  research  work  for  China.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  follow  up  this  line  of  thought.  Enough  here 
to  remark  that  everyone  engaged  in  school  work  in  China 
will  testify  to  the  wonderful  awakening  effect  that  even  a 
smattering  of  English  seems  to  have  on  the  mind  of  a  Chinese 
boy  or  girl.  A  fine  Chinese  scholar,  a  Christian,  who  had 
received  a  thorough  western  education  abroad,  was  asked 
by  a  missionary  friend  did  he  enjoy  reading  his  bible  the 
more  in  English  or  in  his  own  language.  His  instant  reply 
was  "Aly  English  Bible."  ''Why?"  ''Because  it  is  more 
spii'itual,"  was  the  answer. 

A  striking  instance  of  this  aroused  imagination  among  the 
Chinese  people  is  found  in  that  picturesque  scene  at  the  old 
Ming  tombs  near  Nanking.  There  on  the  18th  of  Febru- 
ary, the  New  Year's  Day  of  the  old  calendar,  with  his  minis- 
ter of  war,  General  Huang  Hsin,  and  the  governor-general 
of  the  province.  Dr.  Sun  escorted  by  a  brilliant  military 
parade  made  his  way  to  the  dilapidated  mausoleum  temple 
of  old  Emperor  Hung  Wu  under  the  shadow  of  the  Purple 
Mountain.  To  the  spirits  of  the  Ming  dynasty — Emperor 
Hung  Wu's  remains  had  been  lying  in  500  years  of  neglect — 
he  solenmly  announced  the  end  of  the  usurping  dynasty  and 
the  restoration  of  the  rights  of  the  people  to  the  nation. 
Then  he  turned  and  in  an  address  of  characteristic  modesty 
and  frankness  he  told  the  multitude  his  reasons  for  laying 
down  the  presidency  of  the  provisional  republic.  Here 
were  the  choicest,  the  leading  spirits  of  the  Revolution, 
linking  up  the  best  that  was  to  be  found  in  the  traditions  of 
the  past  with  their  ideals  and  ambitions  for  the  future.  It 
means  much  for  a  people  when  the  power  of  an  aroused 
creative  imagination  can  do  that.  The  boom  of  the  saluting 
guns  at  the  close  taken  up  in  succession  down  the  long  ave- 
nue of  approach  and  away  into  the  distant  city  seemed  to  be 
a  promise  that  the  applause  and  devotion  of  his  auditors  for 
these  ideals  should  extend  out  into  the  life  of  all  the  people. 
The  occasion  had  something  of  the  character  of  a  sacrament 


MORAL   ELEMENTS   IN   CHINESE   REVOLUTION  369 

in  it,  but  Dr.  Sun,  fearing  that  his  Christian  friends  might  be 
disquieted,  hastened  to  assure  them  that  it  had  no  rehgious 
significance  whatever. 

This  power  of  the  creative  imagination  in  New  China 
seems  also  to  have  impressed  the  outside  nations  of  the 
world.  George  Bronson  Rea  in  his  illuminating  article  on 
the  revolution  in  the  April  issue  of  the  Far  Eastern  Review 
tells  us  how  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  and  during  the  great- 
est of  the  uncertainty,  especially  in  Peking,  the  example  of 
China  as  a  republic  was  felt  would  be  tremendous  throughout 
the  East.  ''It  was  urged  that  if  China  had  reached  the 
stage  where  it  could  take  its  place  among  the  great  republics 
of  the  world,  and  her  milhons  of  ignorant,  benighted  people 
were  competent  to  assume  the  duties  and  burdens  of  a 
great  republic,  then  Great  Britain's  policy  in  India  was 
doomed  to  failure.  The  establishment  and  recognition  of  a 
Chinese  Republic  would  increase  the  unrest  in  India,  and 
the  demand  of  the  natives  for  a  larger  share  in  their  own 
government  would  sooner  or  later  break  out  into  open  revolt, 
and  Britain  would  pay  in  India  the  price  in  blood  and  treas- 
ure for  her  vacillating  pohcy  in  China.  And  by  the  same 
logic  America  would  be  called  to  modify  her  policy  in  the 
Philippines.  "Of  course  all  such  generalizations  overlook 
the  essential  dilTerences  in  the  types  of  civilizations  and 
national  characteristics  involved,  but  it  is  certain  that 
the  events  of  the  past  twelve  months  in  China  have  made 
every  ruling  house  of  Europe  more  thoughtful  as  to  their 
own  positions  and  duties. 

4.  I  hasten  to  a  fourth  and  last  moral  and  spiritual  ele- 
ment in  the  situation  closely  allied  to  this  aroused  self-con- 
sciousness of  which  we  have  been  thinking, — namely  self- 
control.  This  in  some  aspects  is  an  immemorial  characteristic 
of  the  race  but  during  the  Revolution  it  found  new  and  ap- 
pealing expression.  Dr.  Fong  F.  Sec,  writing  in  the  Mission 
Year  Book  of  1912  says:  "The  self-control  shown  was  superb, 
and  contrasted  strangely  with  the  behavior  of  the  allied 
troops  in  1900 — looting,  ravaging,  and  shooting  down  of 
non-combatants.  This  has  raised  China  in  the  estimation 
of  the  world  and  has  raised  the  self-respect  of  the  Chinese 


370  CHARLES   L.    STORRS 

people."  Despite  the  yellow  journalism  of  America  every- 
one now  knows  that  this  is  true.  Practically  the  only  ex- 
cesses were  committed  by  the  imperial  troops  in  the  taking 
of  Hankow,  and  by  the  revolted  bands  of  northern  soldiery 
later  on.  It  was  an  entirely  new  experience  to  astonished 
Chinese  farmer  folk  to  find  that  a  great  brigade  of  revolu- 
tionary soldiers  could  pass  through  their  towns  and  by  their 
fields  and  leave  them  practically  as  before.  I  live  in  an 
inland  prefectural  city  where  wide  spaces  and  crumbling 
ruins  both  within  and  without  the  city  walls  are  yet  elo- 
quent of  the  ferocity  of  the  Tai  Pings  who  swept  ofT  two- 
thirds  of  the  innocent  population  of  that  region  in  the 
fifties.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  ill-informed  people  of  that 
city  remembering  the  horrors  of  that  earlier  rebellion,  before 
it  was  clear  whether  there  was  to  be  a  battle  with  the  Keh 
Ming  Dangs  (revolutionaries)  for  the  possession  of  the  city 
or  not,  removed  nine  out  of  ten  of  all  their  women  folks  to 
quieter  places  among  the  mountains  and  country  villages. 
But  it  was  a  needless  fear.  Their  only  foes  were  their  own 
neighbors  who  might  take  such  an  occasion  to  pay  off  old 
grudges,  Chinese  fashion. 

History  I  think  does  not  show  a  parallel  when  so  tremen- 
dous an  overturn  took  place  with  so  brief  and  bloodless  a 
contest.  In  all  the  battles  of  the  revolution  put  together 
fewer  men  lost  their  lives  than  in  any  one  battle  of  our  great 
civil  war.  The  revolutionaries  were  not  after  the  blood  of 
their  enemies  but  after  political  control  of  the  country. 
The  post  and  telegraph  service  all  through  the  south  was 
left  in  undisturbed  imperial  administration  long  after  com- 
plete military  control  had  been  established.  In  Foochow 
it  did  not  seem  to  occur  to  the  new  authorities  even  to  tinker 
with  the  names  until  more  than  a  month  after  the  two  days' 
battle  which  put  them  in  command.  In  many  cases,  as 
at  Canton,  the  revolutionary  leaders  after  recruiting  their 
forces  and  amassing  their  supplies,  had  only  to  take  deputies 
of  the  incredulous  and  astounded  officials  on  a  tour  of 
inspection,  to  persuade  those  officials  to  sign  over  the  sur- 
render papers,  pack  their  trunks  hastily  and  depart.  It  was 
their  reliance  on  pacific  methods  that  led  the  southern 


MORAL  ELEMENTS   IN   CHINESE   REVOLUTION  371 

forces  at  Wuchang  and  Hankow  even  when  flushed  with 
victory  of  arms  to  make  the  sorry  strategic  blunder  of  not 
severing  the  railroad  connection  from  Peking.  Thej'-  could 
not  conceive  that  those  northern  armies  would  actually 
fight  their  own  brothers  for  the  support  of  the  detested  Man- 
chus. 

This  quality  of  self  control  not  rarely  rose  into  real  magna- 
nimity. The  banner  men  of  the  Tartar  city  in  Foochow  after 
the  brief  unequal  struggle,  and  their  disarmament  and  regis- 
tration, actually  had  then-  old  pensions  paid  to  them  out  of 
the  precarious  income  of  their  victors,  until  such  time  as  they 
might  be  able  to  become  self-supporting  at  trades  and  handi- 
crafts. Contrast  that  with  the  extermination  traditionally 
meted  out  to  the  vanquished  in  Chinese  history.  In  the 
final  adjustment  with  the  abdicated  throne,  generous  pen- 
sions were  apportioned  to  all  members  of  the  ruling  house, 
and  the  baby  emperor  was  even  allowed  to  retain  his  title. 
The  greatest  single  instance  of  this  magnanimity  of  spirit, 
one  that  will  forever  shine  in  the  pages  of  modern  history 
was  of  course  the  resignation  of  his  high  office  by  Sun  Wen 
(the  name  by  which  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  is  known  in  China) 
when  at  the  height  of  his  popularity  and  successful  endeavors, 
that  the  breach  with  the  north  might  be  healed  and  his 
loved  country  give  itself  without  delay  to  the  tremendous 
problems  of  reconstruction  that  faced  it.  His  conduct 
during  all  these  months  since  that  notable  event,  when  by 
becoming  less  he  became  truly  great,  his  remarkable  success 
in  allaying  suspicion  and  creating  enthusiasm  by  his  visit 
to  Yuan  Shi  Kai  at  Peking  during  a  period  of  momentous 
uncertainty,  all  his  counsel  to  the  people,  all  his  leadership 
show  him  a  man  qualified  to  live  up  to  a  lasting  world  reputa- 
tion. 

Turning  now  briefly  to  the  other  part  of  our  subject  what 
shall  be  said  regarding  these  moral  and  spiritual  elements  in 
the  outlook  for  the  future? 

1.  First  it  is  certain  that  the  spread  of  enlightenment  is  to 
go  on  apace.  All  the  railway,  telegraph,  and  wireless  com- 
munication schemes  that  are  being  strenuously  pushed  mean 
the  linking  up  of  the  country  into  a  great  whole  so  that  all 


372  CHARLES   L.    STORKS 

shall  know  what  concerns  the  welfare  of  any  section.  News- 
papers antl  books  in  increasing  numbers  are  having  a  wider 
and  more  eager  public  than  ever  before.  It  is  a  tremendous 
task  that  the  country  has  undertaken,  for  only  one  in  four 
hundred  of  her  population  is  going  to  school  at  present;  but 
the  state  and  the  provinces  are  giving  themselves  resolutely 
to  the  enterprize  as  of  foremost  importance.  Here  in  educa- 
tion, in  which  missions  now  hold  the  lead,  is  the  most  stra- 
tegic, most  vital  opportunity  that  the  church  has  faced 
since  the  year  1.  I  hope  that  the  addresses  on  education 
win  not  fail  forcefully  to  impress  this  fact  upon  us.  I 
could  wish  that  that  great  mother  of  the  churches,  the  oldest 
and  most  efficiently  organized  of  them  all,  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  would  enter  this  field  more  widely  and  practically 
than  she  has.  She  would  find  it  much  more  rewarding  than 
the  political  maneuvering  that  frequently  mars  and  obstructs 
her  spiritual  advance. 

2.  Of  the  distinctively  moral  elements  in  the  present  out- 
look it  is  more  difficult  to  speak  incisively.  Of  course  it  is 
a  different  thing  to  rouse  moral  enthusiasm  against  the  faults 
of  others  than  patiently  take  one's  self  in  hand;  and  the 
republicans  are  finding  that  the  Ethiopian  does  not  change 
his  skin  nor  the  leopard  his  spots.  It  is  all  a  question  whe- 
ther there  are  honest,  selfsacrificing,  efficient  men  in  suffi- 
cient numbers  to  carry  the  day.  I  believe  that  there  are. 
They  are  to  be  found  from  top  to  bottom  of  the  new  regime, 
and  they  are  not  unaware  of  what  faces  them.  Premier 
Lu,  who  speaks  both  English  and  French  fluently  is  de- 
scribed in  a  recent  letter  from  Peking  as  "returning  with  the 
fixed  determination  to  sacrifice  himself  for  his  country." 
The  assembly  man  who  represents  my  prefecture  in  the 
Fukien  provincial  assembly,  a  Christian  and  a  scholar,  is 
fighting  with  likeminded  spirits  to  give  real  effectiveness 
to  the  early  assurance  of  the  new  government  of  absolute 
religious  liberty;  for  in  Fukien  it  is  proposed  to  disqualify 
for  the  franchise  all  heads  of  religious  orders,  in  the  hot- 
headed enthusiasm  to  have  done  with  all  the  superstitions 
and  benightedness  of  Taoism  and  Buddhism.  Think  of 
untried  Chinese  Christian  statesmen  having  to  fight  their 


MORAL   ELEMENTS   IN   CHINESE   REVOLUTION  373 

battles  for  the  Buddhist  priest  and  the   Taoist  geoman- 
cer. 

Young  China  is  beginning  to  query  about  the  moral  issues 
of  Hfe  both  in  himself  and  in  society  at  large;  the  why's  and 
the  whither's  begin  to  present  themselves  to  him  for  the 
first  time.  Rev.  G.  A.  Bunbury  in  south  China  tells  of 
opportunities  "to  speak  to  students  who  are  beginning  to 
reflect  on  the  cause  of  moral  evil  and  to  find  the  ethical 
theory  of  the  Chinese  classics  unsatisfactory  because  inade- 
quate." Here  lies  another  great  challenge  to  the  Christian 
Church  to  take  hold  of  its  supreme  task  in  China  with 
redoubled  energy. 

On  the  whole  and  in  the  large  China  seems  to  be  facing 
its  future  with  fine  moral  enthusiasm.  One  of  the  first  offi- 
cial acts  of  President  Yuan  Shi  Kai  was  to  appoint  Shao 
Ying  special  commissioner  to  give  his  full  time  to  the  opium 
reform  aiming  to  complete  that  reform  in  a  year's  time. 
The  board  of  the  interior  gave  official  support  to  the  program 
in  a  bulletin  of  March  20. 

But  when  we  turn  to  view  the  moral  temper  with  vrhich 
the  powers  are  meeting  China  there  is  no  cause  for  congratu- 
lation. Take  this  instance  for  example.  On  September  16 
last,  a  consignment  of  seven  chests  of  opium  valued  at  20,000 
taels,  the  property  of  a  Chinese  purchaser  who  had  paid  full 
customs  charges  at  Shanghai  for  it,  transported  to  Anking, 
not  a  treaty  port,  in  a  vessel  of  the  China  merchants  service, 
and  stored  in  a  Chinese-owned  hulk,  was  seized  by  the 
order  of  the  provincial  Tutuh  (governor)  and  publicly  burned 
by  the  pohce.  Here  was  a  matter  that  from  beginning  to 
end  was  certainly  wholly  the  affair  of  the  Chinese  both  as  to 
the  legality  of  the  seizure  and  of  any  claims  for  damages. 
Yet  Great  Britain  in  the  person  of  its  senior  consul-general 
Sir  Everard  Eraser  must  needs  proceed  in  an  armed  British 
gunboat,  overriding  the  proper  channels  for  such  inquiry 
through  Peking,  to  that  same  non-treaty  port  and  demand 
an  explanation  of  the  Tutuh,  the  outcome  of  wliich  is  yet  to 
be  known.  It  looks  as  if  some  British  were  determined  to 
put  the  "foreign  dirt"  into  the  very  pipes  of  the  Chinese  and 
watch  them  while  they  smoked  it.     The  transaction  reminds 


374  CHARLES   L.    STORRS 

me  of  the  action  of  the  British  consul  in  Foochow  in  1911, 
who  under  pressure  of  the  wholesalers  who  found  their 
stock  accumulating  with  no  Chinese  retail  buyers  because  of 
the  stringency  of  the  administration  of  the  reform  measures, 
wrote  as  follows  to  the  head  of  the  bureau  of  foreign  affairs — 
"I  have  to  request  your  excellency  kindly  send  telegraphic 
instniction  to  all  local  authorities  that  they  issue  an  expUcit 
proclamation  for  the  general  information  of  the  public  with 
a  view  to  promoting  the  sale  of  this  drug." 

The  National  Review  published  in  Shanghai  says  of  this 
last  Anking  affair  in  a  leader  entitled  "A  New  Opium  War:" 
"We  can  imagine  no  act  short  of  actual  war  more  unfriendly 
to  the  Chinese  government  than  this,  which  is  so  malign 
in  its  effect  that  it  might  almost  have  been  calculated  deliber- 
ately with  a  view  to  initiating  an  insidious  attempt  to 
wreck  the  Republic.  Such  a  result  would  highly  delight 
Great  Britain's  ally,  but  would  it  in  the  least  degree  benefit 
Great  Britain?" 

One  is  tempted  to  agree  with  an  American  banker's  view  of 
the  situation.  Mr.  Warner  M.  Van  Norden  of  New  York, 
is  reported  in  a  recent  interview,  speaking  of  the  foreign 
forces  at  work  in  China  and  rating  them  in  order  of  efficiency 
of  organization,  to  put  first,  "a  small  but  brainy  coterie  of 
Britishers  who  with  the  aid  of  certain  British  government 
representatives  are  working  to  nullify  the  popular  anti- 
opium  movement,  and  firmly  to  estabhsh  again  their  nefa- 
rious traffic.  In  point  of  ability  displayed  in  their  tactics, 
and  in  the  money  involved  in  the  outcome,  no  project  in 
China  is  worthy  to  be  compared  with  it." 

Put  with  this  front  of  the  West  toward  China  in  one  of 
it  greatest  moral  struggles,  the  dollar  diplomacy  of  the  pow- 
ers which  for  so  many  months  has  obscured  and  obstructed 
the  course  of  real  statesmanship,  and  we  have  very  httle 
of  which  to  be  proud  in  the  moral  clothes  that  we  seem  to  be 
wearing  in  the  eyes  of  New  China.  The  National  Review 
rejoicing  in  the  break  of  the  grip  of  the  sextuple  syndicate 
by  the  successful  loan  negotiated  through  the  International 
Financial  Syndicate  says;  "The  whole  conduct  of  this  fight 
has  demonstrated  that  what  the  six  powers  desire  in  this 


MORAL   ELEMENTS   IN   CHINESE   REVOLUTION  375 

country  is  not  an  open  door,  or  an  equal  opportunity  for 
all,  but  a  door  closed  to  all  but  their  favorites,  and  no  oppor- 
tunity whatever  for  anybody  else." 

3.  Turning  again  to  the  more  hopeful  Chinese  aspect  of  the 
outlook  we  find  the  element  of  self  consciousness  or  develop- 
ing nationality  presenting  many  grounds  for  cheer.  One 
sees  it  especially  in  the  enthusiasm  and  independence  of  the 
Protestant  Christian  Church,  its  sense  of  responsibility  for 
the  future  of  its  own  country.  A  growing  spirit  of  unity 
also  is  most  easily  discernible  here.  Another  half  hour  could 
be  profitably  spent  on  this  inspiring  theme.  It  is  another 
side  of  the  marvelous  challenge  which  China  is  presenting 
to  Christian  Missions  today. 

Patriotism  too,  of  a  personal,  self  devoting  sort  is  not  to  be 
sought  even  in  times  of  peace  in  vain.  General  Chang  Kuei- 
Ti  was  charged  with  disciplining  the  troops  concerned  in  the 
mutinous  outbreak  at  Tung  Chow.  Among  those  court-mar- 
tialed and  condemned  to  death  was  a  young  lieutenant,  a 
so-called  "grandson"  of  the  general  of  whom  the  older  man 
was  very  fond.  The  general  himself  signed  the  death  war- 
rant and  then  went  into  mourning  for  several  days  so  that 
an  unfounded  rumor  became  rife  that  he  had  committed 
suicide.  One  who  knows  the  grip  of  the  family  and  the  clan 
feeling  in  China  cannot  but  wonder  when  he  sees  the  sense 
of  loyalty  to  one's  country  looming  larger  in  a  Chinese  con- 
science. 

4.  Of  self-control,  the  fourth  element  in  our  review,  the 
Chinese  are  showing  large  measures  as  they  grapple  with  the 
stupendous  tasks  before  them.  Of  course  some  of  it  is 
close  to  the  oriental  fechng  of  fatalism.  "We  must  eat 
three  meals  a  day.  What's  the  difference?"  But  to  New 
China  it  does  make  a  difference;  and  if  she  can  keep  herself 
from  becoming  heady  and  bombastic  she  will  do  well  and 
keep  the  sympathy  of  all  her  friends.  The  leaders  certainly 
have  not  shown  any  of  these  distinctively  student  tendencies. 
Their  spirit  is  reflected  in  the  words  of  a  high  official  to  a 
representative  of  a  London  journal  recently,  "(vhina  does 
not  ask  Europe  for  mercy;  she  asks  for  justice  and  a  little 
patience.     .      .      .     We  are  in  a  little  disarray  it  is  true, 


37t)  CHARLES   L.    STORES 

because  the  principle  of  authority  is  being  restated  in  a  new 
and  strange  language.  We  only  ask  what  Europe  cannot 
gainsay,  namely  time  to  set  our  house  in  order.  Remem- 
ber we  have  many  mansions  and  there  is  much  to  do." 

A  last  element  in  tliis  selfcontrol  or  poise  of  the  present 
day  Chinese  is  something  that  he  shares  with  the  Chinese  of 
all  ages — his  faith  in  "Li."  "Li"  is  the  conforming  of  one's 
individual  conduct,  or  the  ordering  of  social  action  in  accord 
with  the  great  moral  laws  of  the  universe.  With  the  most 
ordinary  coolie  or  boatman  you  can  "kiang  li,"  that  is, 
"talk  li,"  get  at  the  reasonable  moral  conformity  of  any  par- 
ticular act  or  event.  To  the  inmost  rational  moral  nature 
of  the  universe;  the  highest  affairs  of  state  are  administered 
with  the  same  moral  faith.  The  oughtness  of  things  is  with 
the  Confucian  an  articulate  living  reality.  That  is  why  the 
present  leaders  and  statesmen  of  China,  although  they  know 
that  the  western  governments  do  not  pretend  in  international 
affairs  to  live  up  to  their  own  highest  ethical  standards,  and 
though  they  know  they  are  faced  by  a  dubious  future,  seem 
unperturbed.  They  feel  that  theii-  own  conduct  of  affairs, 
tlieir  programs  and  ambitions,  have  "H."  The  ultimate 
outcome  is  assured,  "the  stars  in  their  courses"  are  fighting 
on  their  side.  Their  concern  is  only  to  make  sure  that  they 
do  not  transgress  "li."  It  is  a  moral  faith  that  is  unmatched 
in  the  non-Christian  world. 

From  these  glimpses  of  the  splendid  moral  stamina  in  the 
Chinese  people  are  we  surprised  to  find  that  not  a  few  of  the 
old  Confucians  who  have  thrown  in  their  fortunes  energeti- 
cally with  the  new  da}'',  intelligent,  keen  eyed  men,  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  world  of  affairs,  regard  the  present  as  a 
mere  episode  in  their  nation's  history.  They  still  hold 
the  westerners  as  their  ethical  inferiors — moral  barbarians. 
For  a  time  they  will  give  themselves  to  learning  western 
military  science,  western  industry,  western  political  science, 
modern  science  and  modern  education;  and  having  made 
herself  secure  through  these,  by  which  the  west  has  gained 
its  mastery,  China  will  resume  its  throne  among  the  nations 
of  the  world,  and  rule  not  only  its  own  affairs  but  in  the 
affairs  of  the  nations  according  to  the  supreme  moral  laws 


MORAL   ELEMENTS   IN   CHINESE   REVOLUTION  377 

of  the  universe.  It  is  for  us,  peoples  of  a  more  advanced 
civilization  and  a  more  fundamental  religious  faith,  to  show 
them  that  the  ethical  bases  for  such  a  society  and  such  a 
position  in  the  brotherhood  of  nations  must  rest  on  deeper 
foundations  than  any  in  Confucius'  noble  system,  and 
bring  them  to  discover  for  themselves  the  one  foundation 
that  has  been  laid,  Jesus  Christ,  the  Righteous. 


ORGANIZATION    AND    RECENT    WORK    OF    THE 
CATHOLIC  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA 

By  Rev.  Father  Leo  Desmet,  for  Thirteen  Years  a  Missionary 

in  Mongolia 

The  Chinese  Empire  is  divided  into  five  ecclesiastical 
regions,  and  each  region  is  subdivided  into  vicariates  apos- 
tohc  corresponding  to  our  American  dioceses. 

Mcariates  are  presided  over  by  \dcars  apostoHc,  who 
bear  the  title  of  bishop,  but  are  directly  dependent  on  the 
Congregation  of  the  Propaganda  in  Rome. 

The  \-icars  apostoHc  of  each  region  meet  together  every 
five  years,  to  discuss  the  problems  of  administration,  educa- 
tion and  propaganda,  and  to  ensure  uniformity  of  method 
and  discipline  in  the  different  \'icariates.  The  result  of 
their  deliberations  is  sent  to  the  Congregation  of  the  Propa- 
ganda which  appoints  a  commission  to  examine  the  proposed 
regulations.  When  approved  the  rules  suggested  become 
law  for  the  missions  represented. 

Organization  of  the  Vicariates 

Generally  speaking  the  central  organization  of  each 
vicariate  is  at  the  bishop's  residence  about  which  are  grouped, 
as  in  the  early  ages,  the  higher  educational  institutions, 
namely  the  high  school,  the  training  school,  the  seminary. 

In  these  schools  the  teachers  aim  to  give  the  pupils  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  Chinese  literature  so  that  they  may 
compare  favorably  with  those  of  the  public  schools.  Through 
the  adoption  of  modern  methods  and  text  books,  the  pupils 
learn  now-a-daj-s  as  much  Chinese  in  one  year  as  they 
formerly  did  in  three. 

Outside  the  Chinese  literature  the  course  embraces  bible 
history,  church  history,  apologetics,  history  of  China, 
geography,    mathematics,    physics,    chemistry,    Latin    and 

378 


CATHOLIC   MISSIONS   IN   CHINA  379 

French  or  English.  Mathematics,  physics  and  chemistry 
appeal  most  strongly  to  the  positive  mind  of  the  Chinese, 
and  no  punishment  is  so  much  dreaded  by  the  pupils,  as 
exclusion  from  these  classes.^ 

The  best  disposed  and  most  intelligent  among  the  students 
become  priests.  The  others  who  wish  to  stay  in  the  ser\'ice 
of  the  mission  are  sent  to  the  training  school  where  they  are 
educated  to  be  teachers  or  catechists. 

The  eloquence,  resourcefulness  and  wit  of  these  cate- 
chists is  astonishing.  Traveling  with  the  missionaries, 
they  were  asked  questions  at  night  in  the  inns,  concerning 
the  missions,  their  scope  and  the  reasons  of  Christian  belief. 
It  was  a  real  delight  to  us  to  listen  to  their  explanations, 
with  their  pecuhar  Chinese  arguments  and  comparisons. 
The  foundation  of  numerous  conversions  was  laid  by  these 
familiar  conversations  which  often  were  protracted  late  into 
the  night. 

Candidates  for  the  priesthood  have  to  spend  two  years  on 
philosophical  and  three  years  on  theological  studies.  Before 
being  ordained,  they  have  to  work  as  catechists  for  one  year 
under  the  direction  of  a  missionary. 

I  remember  that  one  day,  when  the  doctor  of  the  French 
legation  in  Peking  came  to  my  residence  to  study  the  bubonic 
plague,  as  he  did  not  speak  Chinese  he  held  a  long  conversa- 
tion in  Latin  with  one  of  our  Chinese  priests.  He  was  sur- 
prised at  the  ease  with  which  the  latter  used  that  language. 

Formerly  no  school  instruction  was  provided  for  Chinese 
girls,  except  in  some  wealthy  families  who  hired  private 
teachers.  If  I  am  not  mistaken  the  Catholic  missionaries 
were  the  first  to  open  schools  for  them.  Although  instruc- 
tion was  rather  elementary,  it  enabled  them  to  read  in  their 
difficult  idiom  the  prayer  book,  the  catechism  of  Christian 
doctrine,  the  bible  history  and  other  religious  books. 

^  I  find  in  the  Calendrier  annuaire  of  the  Observatory  of  Zikawei  (Shang 
Hai)  twenty  pages  devoted  to  the  meteriological  observations  made  by  the 
Beminarians  of  Sung  shu  tsui,  tze,  East  Mongolia:  Wind,  temperature, 
atmospheric  pressure,  rainfall  and  some  special  phenomena  as  rain  and  snow 
by  clear  weather,  yellow  wind  were  observed  with  great  accuracy  for  three 
years. 


380  LEO    DESMET 

To  spread  that  instruction,  the  bishops  have  organized 
training  schools  for  young  women  where  they  are  taught 
something  of  the  Chinese  classics,  and  drilled  in  the  princi- 
ples of  Christianity  and  the  methods  of  presenting  it.  A 
great  number  of  these  young  students  become  nuns  and 
devote  themselves  to  the  care  of  the  orphans,  the  teaching 
in  girls  schools,  and  the  instruction  of  the  new  converts  of 
their  own  sex. 

Organization  into  Districts 

Each  vicariate  is  divided  into  districts,  at  the  head  of 
which  is  one  of  the  more  experienced  missionaries.  He  is  a 
consultor  of  the  bishop  and  inspector  of  the  different  par- 
ishes; he  makes  up  the  statistics,  distributes  the  money  for 
the  different  works  and  takes  care  of  the  relations  with  the 
Chinese  authorities.  Very  often  he  has  to  interfere  in 
law  suits.  By  the  treaties,  the  Christians  are  free  from 
local  taxes  imposed  for  purposes  of  the  pagan  religion  such 
as  building  and  repairing  of  pagodas,  and  holding  theatrical 
performances  in  thanksgiving  to  the  gods.  Around  old 
Christian  centers,  the  non-Christians  know  and  respect  this 
exemption,  but  in  the  newer  missions  they  often  force  the 
converts  to  pay  these  assessments.  Should  the  latter  refuse 
they  are  subjected  to  a  thousand  petty  persecutions.  The 
missionary  tries  first  to  settle  the  trouble  on  the  spot,  but 
this  is  often  impossible,  and  then  he  must  appear  in  court. 
On  account  of  the  many  law-suits  thus  initiated  the  dean  of 
the  district  is  alone  allowed  by  the  bishop  to  have  official 
relations  with  the  mandarins.  He  generally  knows  the 
Chinese  character  well,  and  is  not  easily  deceived  by  false 
reports. 

Parishes 

Subdivisions  of  the  district  are  known  as  parishes.  In 
these  are  located  a  residence  for  one  or  more  missionaries, 
a  church,  a  school  for  boys,  one  for  girls  and  often  an  orphan- 
age. In  MongoUa  the  parishes  covered  a  large  territory. 
Mine  had  an  extension  of  600  square  miles:  there  Uved 


CATHOLIC   MISSIONS   IN   CHINA  381 

scattered  among  the  pagans  a  Christian  population  of  1400 
in  21  hamlets.  The  missionaries  visit  each  village  three 
times  every  year.  The  most  important  of  these  visits  is  in 
winter  when  the  people  are  unemployed.  According  as  the 
number  and  needs  of  our  flock  demanded,  we  remained  in  a 
\'illage  from  four  days  to  three  weeks,  holding  service  every 
morning  and  evening  and  preaching  at  each  service. 

In  some  hamlets  is  a  chapel,  with  adjoining  room  for  the 
priest  to  lodge  in.  Generally  however  we  held  services  in 
some  Christian  home.  Every  traveler  in  Mongolia  knows 
these  Chinese  houses:  floor  of  clay,  straw  thatched  roof, 
walls  of  mud  mixed  with  straw,  small  square  window  set 
with  paper  instead  of  glass.  No  bed  is  in  the  room,  but 
instead  a  k'ang  that  is  a  sort  of  oven  or  platform  2  feet  high, 
underneath  which  passes  the  smoke  from  the  kitchen  fire  on 
its  way  to  the  chimney.  In  winter  with  the  k'ang  as  heating 
apparatus,  with  a  sheep-skin  coat,  a  fur  cap  and  felt  boots 
one  could  manage  not  to  freeze.  Life  was  pretty  hard  on 
these  visits,  especially  on  account  of  the  uncleanness  of  the 
people,  and  we  generally  got  acquainted  with  more  than  one 
kind  of  vermin. 

During  the  day  each  Christian  came  to  the  priest  to  be 
examined  on  Christian  doctrine  and  practice.  After  the 
evening  ser\'ice  many  Christians  and  pagans  came  to  con- 
verse with  the  priest.  The  conversation  covered  such  mat- 
ters as  Chinese  customs  of  interest  to  us,  and  of  western 
topics  of  interest  to  them.  They  asked  questions  about 
the  different  countries,  the  forms  of  government,  the  admin- 
istration of  the  laws,  the  condition  of  the  people,  the  charitable 
institutions,  and  the  modern  inventions;  railroads,  steamers, 
electric  light,  telephone,  telegraph,  etc. 

Time  spent  in  answering  their  sometimes  childish  questions 
was  not  lost :  the  people  were  made  to  feel  more  at  home  with 
the  priest,  their  curiosity  to  learn  of  far  off  lands  and  happen- 
ings gave  him  a  chance  to  explain  the  worth  of  Christian 
civilization.  The  close  contact  with  his  Christians,  the 
personal  interest  he  takes  in  each  one  of  them  (he  knows 
them  all  by  name)  account  for  the  attachment  of  the  con- 
verts to  their  missionaries. 


382  leo  desmet 

Conversions 

A  pagan  comes  to  visit  a  Christian  friend;  the  first  thing 
he  remarks  is  the  absence  of  all  images  of  idols.  He  hears 
the  family  sing  their  night  prayers,  is  impressed  and  asks 
questions.  His  friend  explains  his  belief  and  perhaps  gives 
him  a  book  to  read.  As  his  interest  increases,  he  requests 
a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  the  strange  religion.  A 
catechist  is  sent  to  his  home.  Attracted  by  curiosity  the 
men  of  the  village  flock  around  and  every  evening  the  teacher 
has  a  fair  audience.  The  women  in  turn  become  interested, 
and  want  to  learn  more  about  Christianity.  Two  Chinese 
nuns  (for  they  go  by  two's)  are  sent  to  instruct  them. 

Finally  some  families  decide  to  embrace  the  new  religion. 
They  study  the  Christian  doctrine  and  every  night  led  by 
the  teachers  sing  their  prayers.  When  the  instruction  is 
well  advanced,  the  missionary  comes,  completes  the  work  of 
the  catechists,  and  confers  baptism  on  the  catechumens. 
In  many  \dcariates  it  is  the  rule  to  test  these  for  two  years 
before  admitting  them  to  baptism. 

Conversions  are  also  often  effected  through  contact  with 
a  Christian  family  moving  into  a  remote  village,  where  the 
people  never  heard  much  about  the  Christian  religion.  They 
are  attracted  by  the  example  of  Christian  life.  In  such  way, 
a  movement  of  conversions  is  often  started  in  a  region  where 
the  Christian  religion  was  hitherto  unknown,  and  brings  into 
the  church  several  thousand  souls. 

Orphanages 

The  Chinese  do  not  like  female  children.  The  baby  girl 
is  often  deprived  of  the  mother's  milk  in  favor  of  an  older 
brother.  In  the  mission  where  I  labored,  the  pagans  did 
not  throw  the  infant  girls  away,  except  in  famine  years,  but 
poor  people  often  sold  them.  Husbands  in  great  need  even 
sold  their  wives.  The  buyer  of  the  baby  girl  brings  her  up 
to  be  a  wife  for  his  son,  when  he  and  she  would  be  of  age. 
Those  children  have  a  very  hard  life,  being  treated  harshly 
and  burdened  with  work  above  their  strength. 


CATHOLIC    MISSIONS   IN   CHINA  383 

Some  parents  knowing  their  little  ones  would  be  better 
treated  in  the  orphanage  bring  them  to  the  priest's  residence. 
Under  the  care  of  Chinese  nuns  those  innocent  beings  are 
well  cared  for,  receive  a  good  Christian  education,  learn 
cooking,  sewing,  and  clothes-making,  and  in  due  time  marry 
Christian  young  men.  A  great  number  of  blind  and  cripple 
children  are  saved  from  abandonment  through  Christian 
charity.  Strange  calumnies  are  circulated  about  the  orphan- 
ages, as  for  instance  that  the  eyes  and  the  heart  of  the  chil- 
dren are  pulled  out  and  sent  to  Europe  to  make  drugs.  I 
know  at  least  of  one  instance  in  which  on  account  of  that 
calumny,  the  parents  starved  slowly  to  death  their  girl  of 
eight  years  of  age,  rather  than  bring  her  to  the  orphanage. 

During  prosperous  years,  few  children  are  received,  but 
when  the  harvest  fails,  they  are  brought  in  great  numbers. 
Two  years  before  my  arrival,  a  great  famine  occurred  in 
northern  Mongolia.  There  had  been  no  harvest  for  two 
years;  on  every  road  people  lay  dying  of  starvation.  That 
year  250  children  were  received  in  one  orphanage,  and  saved 
from  starvation.  When  the  missionary  told  me  of  the  an- 
guish he  had  passed  through,  not  having  the  resources  to  save 
more  people,  I  did  not  wonder  that  his  face  had  become 
wrinkled  and  his  hair  white. ^ 

Quality  of  the  Conversions 

The  converts  retain  after  their  conversion  some  of  their 
racial  defects,  but  they  acquire  a  greater  sense  of  freedom, 
they  favor  western  civilization,  they  understand  the  defici- 
ency of  their  own  culture;  they  have  a  strong  faith,  a  great 
love  of  their  religion,  and  are  loyally  attached  to  the  mis- 
sionaries. 

During  the  Boxer  uprising,  in  my  parish,  forty-two  women 
and  children  were  burned  alive  in  a  chapel,  rather  than  give 
up  their  faith. 

*  A  certain  superstitution  prevents  the  parents  from  letting  the  children 
die  in  the  house.  A  little  before  death  they  take  them  outside.  Neither 
do  they  bury  the  small  children.  They  wrap  them  in  a  piece  of  mat  and 
leave  them  in  a  secluded  place  outside  the  village.  Many  times  I  saw  a  dog 
or  a  pig  eating  the  tiny  corpses.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  new  ideas  will 
rapidly  change  this  and  other  strange  customs. 


384  LEO   DESMET 

Forty  more  of  my  people  surrounded  by  the  boxers  were 
asked  to  deny  their  faith,  and  on  their  refusal,  were  slaugh- 
tered in  cool  blood. 

WHiile  we  were  besieged,  during  an  armistice,  the  Boxers 
promised  immunity  to  the  Christians,  if  they  would  only 
deliver  to  them  the  two  European  priests.  I  told  my  men 
that  if  they  thought  it  would  do  them  any  good,  we  were 
ready  to  die.  They  answered:  Father,  we  promised  to  stay 
with  you  for  hfe  or  death,  we  will  stand  by  what  we  said  and 
the  battle  went  on. 

A  review  of  the  CathoUc  missions  would  not  be  complete 
without  statistics: 

The  latest  I  could  find  about  the  Catholic  schools,  was 
Krose's  Katolischen  Missionen  statistik  which  gives  in  1907 
4857  schools  with  118,013  pupils  male  and  female. 

In  1909  there  were  in  China,  1,210,054  Catholics,  45 
bishops,  1424  European  and  631  native  priests,  1215  sem- 
inarians, 229  Em'opean  and  130  native  lay  brothers,  558 
European  sisters  and  several  thousand  Chinese  nuns,  13,000 
mission  places,  8500  churches,  chapels  and  oratories,  400 
orphanages  with  about  24,000  pupils,  and  600  dispensaries, 
hospitals  and  homes  for  old  people  (Cf .  Herder's  Konversation 
lexikon:  Supplement  1911.)  The  Calendrier  annuaireoi  the 
Observatory  of  Zi-ka-wei  (Shanghai),  1912,  gives  for  1910- 
11:  Number  of  bishops,  49;  European  priests,  1426;  native 
priests,  627;  number  of  Catholics,  1,363,697.  That  publica- 
tion is  very  rehable. 

Resources 

Considering  the  small  resources  of  the  Catholic  missions 
this  seems  a  satisfactory  result.  In  east  Mongolia  in  1906 
we  received  from  the  Society  of  the  Propagation  of  the 
Faith  about  14,000  francs  not  quite  $3000.  If  we  assume  that 
the  missionaries  receive  $3000  more  through  their  friends 
and  relatives,  that  would  make  $6000  to  provide  for  48 
priests,  3  boarding  schools,  15  residences,  66  schools,  and 
a  number  of  catechists.  The  Christians  being  generally 
poor,  contribute  very  Uttle.  The  possibility  of  keeping 
up  these  various  works,  can  only  be  explained  by  the  fact 


CATHOLIC    MISSIONS    IN   CHINA  385 

that  the  cost  of  living  is  very  low  and  that  the  missionaries 
not  only  receive  no  salary,  but  contribute  to  the  work  all  the 
gifts  made  to  them  personally. 

The  great  need  of  the  day  in  China  are  higher  educational 
institutions.  The  lack  of  resources  alone  prevents  their 
foundation  in  every  vicariate.  Catholic  high  schools  or 
colleges  are  established  in  Zi-Ka-wei;  Shang-hai,  Canton, 
Hong-kong,  Tien-tsin,  Pekin,  Nan-kin,  and  even  in  Mon- 
golia, for  Christians  and  non-Christians,  but  they  are  too 
few.  The  Protestant  missions  are  far  ahead  in  that  Hne  of 
equipment.  They  have  five  modern  educational  institutions 
to  every  CathoHc  one.  These  schools  are  the  best  means  of 
injecting  some  Christian  spirit  into  the  reform  movement  that 
that  pervades  China. 

The  need  of  that  spirit  is  apparent  to  all  students  of  Chin- 
ese history.  That  great  nation  whose  people  are  sturdy, 
intelligent,  laborious,  sober  and  patient  and  have  so  many 
great  qualities,  was  ever  held  together  by  fear  and  torture. 
It  passed  through  more  bloody  revohitions  than  any  other 
country,  and  a  spirit  of  anarchy  is  latent  among  the  people, 
ready  to  explode  any  time.  Indeed  during  the  nine- 
teenth century,  I  count  thirteen  uprisings  and  rebellions  in 
comparison  with  which  the  revolutions  of  Christian  nations 
look  like  child's  play,  in  which  more  lives  were  lost  than  was 
the  entire  population  of  Europe  in  1870.  During  the 
Taiping  rebellion  20,000,000  people  perished  in  the  one  pro- 
vince of  Kiang-su.  During  the  Tch'ang-mao-tze  rebellion, 
Marshall  Seng  after  crushing  the  rebels  on  the  battle- 
field, pacified  the  south  of  the  province  of  Cheh-lih  by  behead- 
ing 100,000  men.  Piracy  and  robbery  are  always  practiced 
on  a  great  scale,  and  the  idea  the  people  have  of  their  moral- 
ity is  rather  strange. 

To  put  it  in  Chinese  terms:  Robbery  for  them  is  a  very 
good  business  giving  easy  and  big  interest,  but  done  with 
a  big  principal!  One's  head  is  the  principal.  In  1901  in  a 
small  town  of  Mongolia  280  robbers  lost  that  principal  in 
one  row,  after  first  seeing  their  chief  ironed  to  death  with 
red-hot  flat  irons. 


386  LEO   DESMET 

Those  facts  should  give  some  matter  for  reflection  to  those 
who  exalt  the  Chinese  civiUzation,  without  seeing  its  short- 
comings, and  deny  the  need  of  missionary  work  among  them. 

Viewing  that  work  merely  from  the  political  and  utilitarian 
standpoint,  may  we  not  reasonably  conjecture  that  if  ever,  as 
seems  quite  possible,  the  yellow  race  should  put  his  myriads 
against  the  armies  of  the  white  man,  the  Christian  spirit 
infused  even  in  the  non-Christians  by  the  work  of  the  mis- 
sionaries will  serve  to  allay  inter-racial  bitterness,  and  the 
Chinese  Christians  will  easily  induce  their  fellow  country- 
men to  trust  the  Christian  nations,  and  enter  into  friendly 
relations  with  them.  Is  it  not  quite  possible  that  the  work 
of  the  missionaries  may  some  day  preserve  from  torture  and 
slaughter  the  grandchildren  of  their  critics? 

This  view  partly  answers  the  question  sometimes  asked : 
Is  the  vast  expenditure  of  money  and  energy  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Chinese  really  worth  the  while? 

Looking  at  it  from  a  religious  standpoint,  the  Cathohc 
believes  that  the  saving  of  one  soul  would  more  than  com- 
pensate for  the  entire  outlay  by  Catholics  and  Protestants 
alike. 

Progress  in  the  work  has  been  slow,  first  on  account  of 
the  natural  apathy  of  the  Chinese  people  towards  religious 
questions;  Secondly  on  account  of  the  frequent  persecu- 
tions against  the  Christians,  and  the  destruction  of  their 
lives  and  property  in  political  disturbances  and  rebellions; 
thirdly  on  account  of  the  prejudices  aroused  against  the 
Christian  religion  by  the  greed  of  the  western  nations  for 
Chinese  territory  and  resources,  the  missionaries  being  much 
against  their  will  implicated  by  some  of  the  powers,  and  so 
being  regarded  as  agents  of  the  foreign  aggressors;  fourthly 
on  account  of  the  divisions  of  Christendom,  which  the  Chinese 
are  not  slow  to  note. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  obstacles,  the  outlook  is  fairly 
bright.  Since  the  Boxer  uprising,  the  conversions  have 
enormously  increased,  and  now  that  the  educated  among 
the  Chinese  are  all  eager  for  western  methods  and  western 
culture,  now  that  the  spirit  of  civil  and  religious  freedom 


CATHOLIC   MISSIONS   IN   CHINA  387 

has  conquered  China,  the  missionaries  will  try  to  reap  a  big 
harvest  of  souls,  and  to  instill  into  the  nation  at  least  a 
leaven  of  Catholicism.  It  is  true,  as  long  as  the  Catholics 
in  China  depend  on  foreign  countries  for  their  priests  and 
resources,  Catholicism  cannot  expect  to  take  hold  of  any 
large  part  of  the  Chinese  people,  but  it  is  the  earnest  desire 
of  all  concerned  to  see  as  soon  as  possible  the  Catholic 
Church  in  China  presided  over  by  native  bishops  ministered 
to  by  native  priests  and  sustained  by  her  own  resources. 


SO.ME  RECENT  DEVELOPMENTS  OF  CHRISTIAN 
EDUCATION  IN  CHINA 

By  John  Franklin  Gaucher,   LL.D.,  President  Emeritus  of 

Goucher  College;  President  of  Board  of  Governors, 

University  of  Chengtu;  Trustee,  University 

of  Peking 

Christian  education  in  China  during  the  past  few  years 
has  made  notable  progress.  Like  the  century  plant,  which 
spends  many  years  in  spreading  its  roots,  elaborating  its 
stout  stem  and  fleshy  leaves,  and  storing  material,  then,  with 
startling  suddenness  elevates  its  "mast,"  unfolds  its  flowers, 
and  matures  its  fruit;  so  Christian  education  has  had  a  pro- 
tracted season  of  diffused  and  experimental  ministry  in  China. 
This  has  been  of  great  value,  and  was  preliminary  to  its  fuller 
development. 

It  is  rapidly  passing  from  the  sporadic,  individualistic, 
empiric,  and  competitive  stage  of  its  early  history.  Its 
problems  are  being  defined,  its  work  organized,  its  methods 
standardized,  and  leading  educators  and  missionary  societies 
are  cooperating  in  spirit  and  effort  to  elaborate  and  establish 
a  thoroughly  articulated  system  of  Christian  education,  cov- 
ering the  whole  range  from  kindergarten  to  university.  This 
has  assumed  the  proportions  of  a  widely  extending  movement. 
Its  spirit  and  motive  are  inseparable  from  Christianity,  but 
were  greatly  quickened  by  the  findings  and  influence  of  the 
World  Missionary  Conference  at  Edinburgh. 

Many  have  thought  that  Conference  the  greatest  eccle- 
siastical gathering  since  Pentecost.  It  had  the  work  of  all 
previous  gatherings  to  build  upon.  It  registered  a  wider 
range  and  greater  variety  of  Christian  experience  than  any 
previous  one.  It  interpreted  larger  achievements  of  grace 
and  more  varied  and  more  insistent  opportunities  for  the 
transforming  and  constructive  ministries  of  evangelical 
Christianity  than  ever  before.     Its  personnel  was  more  typi- 

388 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  389 

cal  of  the  universal  church  than  the  synod,  council,  assem- 
bly, or  conference  of  any  branch  of  the  church  could  be. 
Its  basis  of  assigning,  and  hearty  cooperation  in  selecting 
the  delegates  made  it  more  representative  of  the  churches 
of  Christendom  than  any  previous  Interdenominational 
gathering. 

It  differed  from  the  church  councils  of  the  early  centuries 
of  the  Christian  era  in  that  their  motive  was  self-preservation; 
their  objective  to  develop  the  self-consciousness  of  the  church; 
their  effort  to  differentiate,  define,  and  delimit  the  church  in 
regard  to  the  subtile  philosophical  heresies,  insistent  tradi- 
tions, and  assertive  customs  which  threatened  to  subvert  its 
fundamental  principles  or  destroy  its  ethical  standards;  but 
the  motive  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  was  the  world's 
conquest  for  Christ;  its  objective  to  develop  self-interpreta- 
tion without  waste  of  resource  in  energy,  time  or  opportunity ; 
its  effort  to  emphasize  the  unities  of  Christian  teaching  and 
experience,  to  subordinate  all  peculiarities  which  are  not  vital 
to  its  deepest  life,  and  to  conserve  every  agency  which  might 
broaden  or  enrich  its  influence. 

While  the  Conference  persistently  sought  to  develop  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  practice  of  intercession,  its  most 
distinctive  characteristic  was  its  effort  to  secure,  as  nearly  as 
might  be,  a  scientific  study  and  statement  of  vital  mission- 
ary problems. 

In  order  to  do  this,  eight  commissions,  each  consisting  of 
about  twenty  experts,  were  appointed  several  months  in 
advance  to  gather  information  from  all  lands,  and  consult 
those  exceptionally  wise  concerning  specially  assigned  sub  j  ects. 

Commission  III,  which  had  to  deal  with  "Education  in 
Relation  to  the  Christianization  of  National  Life,"  received 
answers,  some  of  more  than  one  hundred  typewritten  pages, 
to  its  special  inquiries,  from  about  three  hundred  leading 
missionaries  and  representative  educators. 

These  were  referred  to  subcommittees  to  digest  and  formu- 
late; then  considered  and  edited  by  the  Eastern  Section,  and 
revised  by  the  Western  Section  of  the  Commission;  after- 
ward, reconsidered  by  the  Joint  Commission,  and  mailed  in 
galley  proof  for  criticism,  emendation  or  additions  to  several 


390  JOHN   FRANKLIN   GOUCHER 

hundred  personally  interested  in  the  subjects;  their  sugges- 
tions were  carefully  considered  and  the  report  thus  elaborated 
was  submitted  to  the  Edinburgli  Conference,  which  spent  a 
day  in  its  discussion,  and  adopted  it,  together  with  such  rec- 
onunendations  as  carried  its  unanimous  judgment.  Never 
before  had  there  been  such  a  comprehensive  preview  and 
painstaking  discussion  of  missionary  problems. 

This  report,  thus  prepared,  in  its  section  dealing  with 
"Christian  Education  in  China,"  sets  forth  among  other 
conclusions  and  suggestions,  that 

The  jiresent  moment  is  one  of  unsurpassed  importance  and 
opportunity  for  the  Christian  church;  unparalleled  in  the  world 
today,  and  rarely,  if  ever,  equaled  in  past  history.  The  facts 
demand,  not  only  of  missionary  educators  in  China,  but  actually 
of  the  whole  Christian  world,  thorough  and  constant  study  of  the 
situation  from  a  distinctively  educational  as  well  as  from  a  general 
missionary  point  of  view. 

Organization  for  cooperative  work. 

A  specific  educational  policy  and  system  of  Christian  education 
for  China,  including  educational  associations,  assemblies,  superin- 
tendents, and  supervision  for  provinces,  large  areas,  and  the  nation, 
with  a  sufficient  number  of  schools  and  colleges  to  serve  as  exam- 
ples of  the  highest  type  of  education  in  which  intellectual  excel- 
lence is  combined  with  the  character-forming  power  of  Christian 
training. 

The  appointment  of  thoroughly  trained  Christian  educators 
with  practical  experience  before  being  sent  out.  The  appointees 
to  be  selected  with  a  view  to  promoting  the  greatest  efficiency  in 
conducting  schools  of  every  grade,  and  their  service  to  be  of  as 
permanent  a  nature  as  possible. 

With  regard  to  the  important  problem  of  university  education 
in  China,  the  Commission  records  its  conviction  that  the  extent 
of  the  Chinese  Empire  makes  it  impracticable  that  one  central 
Christian  university  should  permanently  serve  all  parts  of  China. 
It  looks  rather  to  the  eventual  founding  of  several  such  institutions 
in  different  parts  of  the  Empire.  But  at  only  a  very  limited  num- 
ber of  points  should  the  attempt  be  made  at  present  to  develop 
work  of  a  distinctively  university  calibre.  It  is  of  the  opinion  also 
that  when  in  any  of  the  great  divisions  of  the  Empire  the  time 
is  ripe  for  the  development  of  university  education,  all  the  Christian 
forces  in  that  region  should  unite  in  the  development  of  one  insti- 
tution of  Christian  learning.  Secondary  education,  and  to  a  less 
extent,  college  education,  must  be  provided  for  in  the  more  popu- 
lous and  educationally  advanced  regions,  at  more  than  one  point, 
but  the  duplication  of  higher  work  in  any  great  division  of  the 
Empire  at  an  early  date  is  to  be  deprecated  as  uneconomical  and 


I 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  391 

as  tending  to  inefficiency  and  to  the  alienation  of  the  support  of 
those  from  whom  such  support  must  be  expected. 

The  Edinburgh  Conference  appointed  a  Continuation 
Committee  of  Thirty-five. 

To  carry  out,  on  the  Hues  of  the  Conference  itself,  which  are 
Interdenominational,  the  ideas  of  coordinating  missionary  work, 
laying  sound  lines  for  its  future  development,  and  evoking  and 
claiming  by  cooperative  action  fresh  stores  of  spiritual  forces  for 
the  evangelizing  of  the  world. 

To  place  its  services  at  the  disposal  of  the  home  boards  in  any 
steps  which  they  may  be  led  to  take  towards  closer  mutual  council 
and  practical  cooperation. 

To  take  such  steps  as  may  seem  desirable  to  carrj'-  out,  by  the 
formation  of  special  committees  or  otherwise,  any  practical  sug- 
gestions made  in  the  reports  of  the  Commissions. 

In  accordance  with  these  provisions,  the  Continuation 
Committee  has  appointed  a  number  of  special  committees 
to  deal  severally  with  designated  subjects,  among  which  is  a 

Committee  on  Christian  Education  in  the  Mission  Field  with  a 
special  purpose  of  continuing  the  study  of  the  educational  situation 
with  reference  to  particular  mission  fields,  and  of  considering  the 
means  of  fostering  cooperation  and  coordination  in  missionary 
educational  work;  the  committee  to  work  in  two  cooperating 
sections;  the  European  Section  to  consider  especially  the  educa- 
tional situation  in  India  and  Africa,  and  the  American  Section  to 
give  special  attention  to  the  educational  situation  in  Japan,  China, 
and  the  Levant. 

The  Committee  on  Christian  Education  in  the  Mission 
Field  held  a  three  days'  session  at  Baltimore  as  soon  after  the 
Edinburgh  Conference  as  it  could  be  convened,  tabulated  its 
functions,  defined  the  objects  of  its  endeavor,  and  determined 
upon  its  method  of  procedure,  and  has  held  regular  meetings 
at  stated  intervals  to  further  its  work. 

Its  chairman  spent  eight  months,  September,  1910  to  May, 
1911,  in  the  Far  East;  visited  Japan  and  Korea,  and  nearly 
all  the  leading  centers  of  education  in  China.  He  carefully 
looked  into  the  condition  of  many  of  the  Christian  and  state 
schools;  met  with  the  missionary  and  government  educators, 
singly  and  in  groups;  sat  with  committees,  boards  of  education, 
and  educational  associations;  spoke  more  than  one  hundred 
times  on  various  problems  related  to  the  development  of  a 


392  JOHN    FRANKLIN   GOUCHER 

system  of  Cliristiiiii  educutioii;  and  secured  the  appointment 
of  joint  committees  at  ^'arious  strategic  centers  on  the  stand- 
ardizing and  coorcHnating  of  primary  and  middle  schools,  and 
on  cooperation  in  the  development  of  colleges,  technical 
schools  and  universities. 

The  secretary,  Dr.  T.  H.  P.  Sayler,  has  visited  Egypt  and 
Syria  in  the  interests  of  the  work  of  the  Committee  on  Chris- 
tian Education,  and  both  chairman  and  secretary  have  at- 
tended meetings  of  the  European  Section  of  the  Committee. 

The  American  Section  of  the  Committee  on  Christian 
Education  has  opened  an  office  in  New  York,  in  charge  of  a 
statistician  who,  under  the  direction  of  a  committee  of  three, 
is  gathering,  tabulating,  and  digesting  comprehensive  and 
detailed  information  concerning  education  in  China  and  other 
lands,  at  home  and  abroad.  The  Committee  includes  a 
number  of  experts  who  generously  give  of  their  time  as  re- 
quired to  considering  the  problems  which  emerge  and  demand 
solution.  As  our  card  catalogues,  charts  and  diagrams  be- 
come more  complete,  we  hope  to  be  able  to  place  at  the 
service  of  any  educational  organization  in  the  field  or  mis- 
sionary board  at  home  practical  suggestions  based  upon  a 
thoroughly  scientific  consideration  of  any  problem  it  may 
submit. 

The  Educational  Association  of  China,the  object  of  which, 
as  defined  by  Article  II  of  its  Constitution,  is ''The  promotion 
of  educational  interests  in  China  and  the  fraternal  coopera- 
tion of  all  engaged  in  teaching, "  was  organized  by  the  General 
Missionary  Conference  held  in  Shanghai,  May,  1890,  and 
is  actively  engaged  in  prosecuting  the  work  for  which  it  was 
created. 

Dr.  Frank  D.  Gamewell,  for  many  years  a  professor  in  the 
Peking  University,  whose  reliance  upon  God,  unconquerable 
devotion,  persistent  activity,  and  constructive  ability, 
planned,  directed  the  construction  and  maintained  the 
orderly  and  successful  defense  of  the  Compound  in  Peking, 
where  missionaries,  nati^^e  Christians,  and  members  of  the 
various  legations  were  besieged  during  the  anti-foreign  Boxer 
insurrection  till  the  armies  of  the  nations  raised  the  siege, 
was  called  in  1908  to  supervise  the  educational  work  of 


1 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  393 

the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  China,  and  further  its 
organization  into  a  consistent  system. 

After  detailed  visitation  of  national  and  Christian  schools 
throughout  the  empire;  careful  comparative  study  of  the 
various  curricula,  existing  conditions  and  problems  involved ; 
frequent  consultations  with  educators,  conference  and  local 
boards,  educational  associations,  and  recognized  leaders  from 
the  home  lands,  he  prepared  an  elaborate  report,  accompanied 
by  charts,  diagrams,  and  a  well  digested  statement  and  dis- 
play of  the  facts,  together  with  specific  recommendations 
which  were  laid  before  the  Central  Conference  of  China  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  December,  1911.  This  report 
was  adopted  with  practical  unanimity,  and  embodies  the 
educational  policy  of  that  branch  of  the  Christian  church  in 
China  for  all  its  five  Conferences.  These  Conferences  are 
represented  bj'-  557  schools  of  various  grades,  894  instructors, 
15,823  students,  not  including  its  representatives  in  the  great 
Interdenominational  institutions.     This  policy  provides  for: 

1.  A  General  Board  of  Education,  elected  by  the  General  Con- 
ference for  all  the  educational  work  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  China. 

This  Board  shall  have  authority  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
standardization  and  articulation  of  curricula,  and  in  the  coordina- 
tion of  education  with  the  other  work  of  missions,  and  in  the  general 
advancement  of  education  interests. 

2.  A  Conference  Board  of  Education,  there  are  five  of  these,  to 
have: 

General  supervision  of  all  educational  work  within  its  bounds, 
and  special  supervision  of  the  high  schools  and  intermediate  schools: 
to  decide  their  location,  determine  the  qualification  of  their  teachers 
and  set  examinations. 

3.  A  District  Board  of  Education,  elected  by  the  Conferences 
of  the  District,  to  have  supervision  of  the  day  schools  within  its 
bounds.     Its  duties  shall  be: 

To  decide  where  schools  shall  be  located;  to  provide  well  lighted 
and  sanitary  buildings,  properly  equipped;  to  examine  and  engage 
teachers;  to  set  uniform  examinations. 

Dr.  Gamewell  is  continued  as  general  educational  superin- 
tendent for  the  work  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
China,  and  the  Educational  Association  of  China  has  invited 
him  to  become  superintendent  of  the  Christian  educational 
work  of  the  entire  republic,  which  position  he  has  accepted. 


394  JOHN   FR.A.NKLIN   GOUCHER 

I  }ia\e  referred  to  these  three  agencies  working  for  coor- 
dination and  cooperation  in  the  Christian  educational  work 
of  China.  One  interdenominational,  the  Committee  on 
Christian  Education  in  the  Mission  Field,  created  by  the 
World  Alissionar}'  Conference  at  Edinburgh.  One  national, 
the  Educational  Association  of  China,  and  one  denomina- 
tional. There  are  many  others,  interdenominational,  de- 
nominational, and  geographical,  too  numerous  to  mention 
at  this  time,  such  as:  The  General  Education  Committee 
of  China,  appointed  by  the  Centennial  Conference  held  at 
Shanghai,  1907;  various  educational  associations  for  two, 
three  or  four  provinces,  or  a  considerable  area,  larger  than 
one  province;  and  there  is  scarcely  a  province  without  a 
similar  association  working  for  similar  results;  while  other 
associations  are  studying  the  problems,  and  furthering  the 
interests  of  united  effort  in  smaller  areas  about  important 
centers.  The  three  organizations  referred  to  somewhat  in 
detail  are  tj^pical  and  reveal  the  trend  which  others  only 
accentuate. 

The  churches  in  the  home  lands  are  showing  a  similar 
sjTithetic  spirit. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  in  its  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  1900,  approved  a  report  of  its  Standing  Com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Missions,  in  which  along  other  things,  the 
statement  is  made: 

The  object  of  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  is  not  to  perpet- 
uate on  mission  fields  the  denominational  distinctions  of  Christen- 
dom, but  to  build  up  on  Scriptural  lines  and  according  to  Scrip- 
tural methods  and  principles  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society  has  adopt- 
ed the  following  principle  as  the  policy  of  its  operations 
abroad : 

That  to  the  utmost  practical  extent  there  should  be  cooperation 
with  other  Christian  bodies  working  in  the  same  fields.  Such 
cooperation  is  of  special  importance  in  the  department  of  higher 
education,  where  students  are  relatively  few  and  education  expen- 
sive. 


i 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  395 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions has  repeatedly  committed  itself  to  any  and  every  practi- 
cal plan  of  cooperation  which  was  within  the  limits  of  its 
financial  resources,  believing  that  its  work  in  Asia  and  Africa 
is  not  to  build  up  a  church  according  to  any  set  model,  but  that 
it  is  to  cooperate  with  other  Christian  workers  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  living  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  center  of 
power  and  life  and  redemption  for  all  men. 

Other  missionary  and  denominational  assemblies  have 
repeatedly  expressed  themselves  as  in  favor  of  the  closest 
cooperation  with  other  societies  and  communions  in  promot- 
ing the  cause  of  foreign  missions. 

There  has  never  been  a  period  since  the  beginning  of 
modern  missions  when  denominational  differences  were  so 
minimized  and  the  great  fundamental  truths  of  our  blessed 
religion  were  so  universally  emphasized. 

The  consensus  of  judgment  as  held  by  many  of  the  leading 
Christian  educators,  representative  missionaries,  and  strong- 
est mission  boards,  points  towards  several  well  defined  con- 
clusions.    Among  these,  the  following  seem  to  be  included: 

The  education  of  the  Chinese  is  not  the  problem  of  the 
mission  boards;  the  education  of  the  Chinese  is  China's 
problem. 

The  problem  of  the  Christian  Church  is: 

1.  To  furnish  China  with  a  thoroughly  standardized  and 
coordinated  system  of  Christian  education,  emphasizing  qual- 
ity rather  than  quantity. 

a.  To  provide  educated  leadership  in  the  various  pro- 
fessions and  vocations  of  life,  such  as  preachers,  teachers, 
doctors,  statesmen,  engineers,  manufacturers,  merchants, 
financiers,  and  the  like. 

h.  To  provide  an  intelligent  and  reasonably  educated  mem- 
bership and  dependable  citizenship  which  shall  be  able  to 
appreciate  the  teachings  of  God's  Word,  support  the  aggres- 
sive agencies  of  Christianity,  and  constructively  influence 
their  community  life. 

c.  To  serve  as  a  challenge  and  corrective  to  the  national 
schools  of  similar  grade. 


39G  JOHN    FIIANKLIN   GOUCHER 

d.  To  furnish  tlie  ropublio  an  example  of  education  at 
its  best,  wliicli  undoubtedly  would  be  largely  imitated. 

This  is  necessary  that  China  may  be  enabled  and  induced 
to  provide  for  the  proper  education  of  the  Chinese. 

2.  Such  a  system  will  require: 

a.  Schools  ranging  all  the  way  from  the  kindergarten  to 
the  university. 

b.  That  each  school  shall  be  true  to  its  grade  name,  with 
its  courses  of  study  and  work  carefully  adjusted  to  the  other 
schools  of  the  system,  the  ability  of  the  young  people  who 
attend,  and  the  preparation  needful  to  make  the  most  out  of 
their  probable  environment. 

c.  Teachers  specially  prepared,  of  tried  efficiency,  carefully 
adjusted,  and  adequately  supported,  with  special  and  com- 
prehensive revision  for  training  native  teachers,  and  supply- 
ing them  with  thorough  supervision. 

3.  As  necessary  to  the  development  and  maintenance  of 
such  a  system  of  Christian  education,  it  seems  necessary  that: 

a.  The  primary  schools  should  be  denominational,  the  mid- 
dle schools  usually  so,  and  the  colleges  not  infrequently  so. 

b.  Usually  the  colleges,  and  possibly  in  almost  every  case 
the  universities,  should  be  interdenominational. 

c.  The  Christian  schools  of  higher  grade  should  not  be 
unduly  multiplied,  nor  near  enough  to  compete  with  each 
other;  say  four,  five,  or  six  Christian  universities  located  at 
the  great  strategic  centers  would  be  as  many  as  should  be 
attempted;  each  central  to  a  large  constituency,  supple- 
mented by  a  sufficient  number  of  strong  denominational  or 
interdenominational  colleges  to  supply  it  with  thoroughly 
prepared  students  for  its  technical  schools  and  graduate  work. 

d.  Each  college  should  have  its  preparatory  schools  closely 
affiliated,  of  adequate  number  and  quality  to  supply  it  with 
thoroughly  prepared  students,  and  each  of  the  preparatory 
schools  should  be  similarly  related  to  a  number  of  primary 
schools. 

If,  out  of  every  two  hundred  who  enter  our  primary  schools, 
in  the  United  States,  only  one  on  the  average  graduates  from 
a  first-class  college,  we  may  not  expect  a  much  larger  propor- 
tion, for  some  time  at  least,  in  China,  and  it  will  require  a 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  397 

comprehensive  and  well  organized  system  of  primary  and 
preparatory  schools  to  supply  proper  patronage  for  the  col- 
leges and  universities. 

This  statement  is  neither  academic  nor  wholly  idealistic. 
A  consideration  of  the  development  of  Christian  education  as 
recorded  in  China  during  the  past  three  or  four  years,  will 
make  it  clear  that  the  dominating  trend  is  toward  great, 
interdenominational  universities,  located  at  a  few  strategic 
centers,  having  denominational  or  interdenominational  col- 
leges, preparatory  schools,  and  primary  schools  within  a  defi- 
nite area,  closely  articulated ;  with  interdenominational  edu- 
cational associations,  and  adequate  supervision  to  maintain 
the  standards  and  coordinations;  to  council,  and  in  some 
cases,  regulate  and  determine  the  location,  grades,  and  effi- 
ciency of  the  schools. 

It  means  much  that  the  problems  are  being  so  carefully 
studied  and  clearly  defined;  that  all  movements  seem  to  be 
synthetic,  and  that  overlapping,  harmful  competition,  and 
wasteful,  undirected  experimentation  is  being  limited. 

The  constructive  results  are  also  noteworthy,  and  the 
future  is  radiant  with  hope. 

The  West  China  Union  University  is  a  recent  development 
of  Christian  education  in  China  and  registers  its  trend.  It 
is  situated  at  Chengtu,  a  city  of  about  450,000  inhabitants, 
the  capital  of  Szechwan,  the  largest,  most  populous,  most 
productive  province  in  China,  with  about  the  same  area  and 
twice  the  population  of  France.  Chengtu  is  one  of  the  six 
most  important  cities  in  the  republic,  a  great  literary,  educa- 
tional, and  military  center;  and  is  strategically  located  to  the 
three  great  provinces  of  west  China  which  are  geographically 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  republic  and  contain  about 
one-fourth  of  China's  area  and  population  . 

In  November,  1905,  representatives  of  the  eight  missions 
engaged  in  educational  work  in  west  China  were  called  to- 
gether and  they  started  plans  which  in  October,  1906,  resulted 
in  the  organization  of  the  West  China  Christian  Educational 
Union.  This  association  is  a  conij)act  and  eflicicnt  body, 
which  outlines  the  curricula,  conducts  the  examinations, 
confers  the  certificates,  and  in  general  oversees  the  primary 


398  JOHN  FRANKLIN  GOUCHER 

and  secoiidaiy  educational  work  of  all  the  Protestant  mis- 
sions in  west  China. 

It  was  natural  for  those  who  were  unitedly  doing  such 
thorough  and  systematic  primary  and  preparatory  work  to 
desire  enlarged  and  advanced  opportunities,  and  during  the 
Centennial  Conference  held  at  Shanghai  in  1907  the  mis- 
sionaries in  attendance  from  west  China  held  three  meetings 
to  discuss  plans  for  the  extension  of  their  educational  system. 

In  1908,  a  representative  committee  was  appointed  an 
reported  in  favor  of  establishing  a  union  university  for  west 
China,  under  interdenominational  control,  and  the  proposition 
had  the  endorsement  of  practically  all  the  missionaries  in  that 
field.  When  referred  to  the  home  boards  for  their  approval, 
four  boards — The  Friends'  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  General  Board  of  Missions  of 
the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada,  the  American  Baptist 
Foreign  IMissionary  Society,  and  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States 
of  America — endorsed  the  project,  ''provided  a  plan  of 
cooperation  can  be  devised  which  will  be  acceptable  to  the 
cooperating  bodies."  Two  other  mission  boards  commended 
the  project,  but  felt  they  could  not  financially  cooperate. 

After  much  consultation  and  correspondence  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  university  was  unanimously  authorized,  under 
conditions  satisfactory  alike  to  the  home  boards  and  the 
missionaries  in  the  field.  It  is  thus  international  and  inter- 
d  enominational . 

For  some  time  about  one  hundred  students  had  been  study- 
ing at  the  Union  Preparatory  School,  a  number  of  whom 
were  ready  for  college  work. 

So  eager  were  the  missionaries  to  meet  the  urgent  demand 
and  so  confident  were  they  that  what  should  be  done  could 
and  would  be  done  that  the  West  China  Union  University 
was  begun  and  a  class  of  ten  students  received  for  college 
grade  work  on  Chinese  New  Year,  March  11,  1910,  though 
the  joint  committee  of  the  four  bodies  which  have  cooperated 
in  establishing  the  university  did  not  meet  to  draft  the  con- 
stitution in  its  final  shape  until  June,  1910,  when  they  con- 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  399 

vened  in  London,  England,  just  after  the  Edinburgh  Con- 
ference. 

The  control  on  the  educational  side  of  the  university  is 
vested  in  a  senate  composed  largely  of  mstructors,  together 
with  other  representatives  of  the  cooperating  bodies.  The 
senate  determines  the  curricula,  conducts  the  examinations, 
grants  degrees,  and  has  general  charge  of  all  university  affairs 
in  the  field. 

The  ultimate  control  is  vested  in  a  board  of  governors 
resident  in  the  home  lands  and  composed  of  three  representa- 
tives of  each  of  the  cooperating  mission  boards,  and  others, 
not  exceeding  eight,  selected  by  these.  The  board  of  gover- 
nors holds  and  controls  all  the  real  estate,  funded  capital,  and 
other  property  of  the  university. 

The  revolution  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the 
republic  temporarily  interrupted  the  work  of  the  university. 
All  foreigners  were  required  to  leave  Chengtu  and  were  not 
able  to  return  for  several  months,  but  the  institution  reopened 
in  good  shape  in  September  last  with  the  first  two  classes  of 
college  grade. 

The  medical  department  is  in  process  of  organization  and 
will  include  three  general  hospitals,  two  of  which  have  recently 
been  completed,  and  $25,000,  gold,  is  in  hand  for  the  building 
of  the  third;  $25,000,  gold,  has  been  provided  for  the  medical 
school  building  and  one  of  the  cooperating  boards  has  set 
apart  two  instructors  for  that  work. 

The  Union  Theological  School  for  the  four  cooperating 
missions,  though  not  an  organic  part  of  the  university  as  yet, 
is  doing  successful  work  and  is  closely  related  to  it. 

The  normal  department  has  held  a  prominent  place  in  the 
purpose  and  work  of  the  university  plans  from  its  inception. 
The  China  Emergency  Appeal  Committee,  of  London,  has 
made  a  grant  of  $4500,  gold,  for  this  department,  and  draw- 
ings are  being  prepared  for  the  normal  building.  Five  mis- 
sions have  been  represented  in  its  student  body. 

Two  university  men  familiar  with  the  language  and  having 
successful  experience  in  educational  work  in  west  ('hina  have 
been  at  home  for  special  training,  are  under  appointment 


400  JOHN   FRANKLIN   GOUCHER 

aiul  will  sail  within  a  few  weeks  to  strengthen  the  educational 
department. 

Plans  are  being  projected  to  increase  the  two  regular  sum- 
mer schools  for  teachers  to  five,  to  be  held  annually  at  con- 
venient centers.  The  university  extension  courses,  with  lan- 
tern slides,  will  be  enlarged.  The  development  of  the  normal 
school  for  primary  teachers,  and  the  opening  of  a  teachers' 
college  for  secondary  teachers  are  provided  for. 

The  superintendent  of  the  primary  and  middle  schools 
is  to  sail  in  January.  He  is  also  secretary  of  the  West  China 
Educational  Union,  and  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the 
teachers'  department,  and  his  influence  in  these  various 
relations  will  greatly  strengthen  the  unity  of  the  work. 

There  are  7000  students  in  the  240  primary  and  middle 
schools  connected  with  the  various  missions  under  the  355 
missionaries  in  west  China.  These  are  included  in  the  system 
and  closely  articulated  through  the  West  China  Educational 
Union.  They  are  following  the  same  curricula,  carefully 
graded  and  arranged  as  far  as  possible  in  harmony  with  the 
government  courses  of  study,  but  including  religious  instruc- 
tion; taking  the  same  examinations  conducted  by  the  Educa- 
tional Union ;  and  passed  from  grade  to  grade  by  certificates 
issued  by  that  body;  and  they  are  under  the  strong  Christian 
influence  of  men  and  women  who  have  gone  out  from  home 
primarily  to  teach  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
whose  lives  are  a  daily  witness  to  the  power  of  their  message. 
This  comprehensive  system  of  unified  activities  will  secure 
the  supply  of  students  for  the  Colleges,  Technical  Schools, 
and  graduate  work  of  the  university,  and  assure  a  demand  for 
their  graduates. 

Financial 

The  four  participating  missions  support  ten  foreigners, 
graduates  of  western  colleges  and  universities,  who  are  teach- 
ing in  the  departments  of  the  university  as  members  of  the 
faculty  (at  an  average  salary  of,  say,  $1250),  $12,250;  an 
educational  secretary  whose  work  is  a  part  of  the  normal 
department  of  the  university  is  supported  at  an  annual  cost, 
including  traveling  expenses,  of  $1750;  last  year  each  of  the 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  401 

four  mission  boards  contributed  $1250  for  running  expenses, 
making  15000;  this  makes  a  total  annual  contribution  from 
the  boards  of  $19,000. 

It  is  assumed  that  at  least  this  amount  will  be  contributed 
annually  for  the  future,  and  the  guarantee  of  the  mission 
boards  is  not  inferior  as  security  to  railroad  or  industrial 
stocks  or  bonds.  This  sum,  capitalized  at  5  per  cent,  may 
be  considered  as  representing  an  endowment  of  $380,000. 

In  addition  to  the  above  annual  contributions,  the  four 
boards  have  already  invested  in  the  purchase  of  51  acres  of 
land  for  the  university  site,  erection  of  buildings  and  equip- 
ment, all  costing  $70,000. 

Each  of  the  four  cooperating  mission  boards  is  under  agree- 
ment to  erect  at  least  one  college  building,  with  dormitory 
for  its  students  and  residence  for  its  member  or  members  of 
the  faculty.  Based  upon  appropriations  already  made,  these 
may  be  valued  for  the  four  boards  at  not  less  than  $125,000. 

Money  is  in  hand  to  secure  about  50  acres  more  land,  so 
as  to  square  out  the  tract,  and  make  ample  provision  for  the 
future,  say  $25,000. 

The  total  value  of  the  above  assets  is  about  $600,000. 

The  board  of  governors  are  engaged  in  a  campaign  to 
secure  $500,000  for  buildings  and  endowments,  part  of  which 
has  been  pledged,  and  the  outlook  is  very  hopeful. 

It  is  expected  that  the  Woman's  Union  Normal  College 
will  be  built  near  by,  and  it  has  $10,500,  gold,  in  hand  for  that 
purpose. 

The  actual  university  work  which  the  university  is  doing 
is  as  yet  limited,  but  its  high  and  clearly  defined  ideals,  the 
completeness  of  its  organization,  its  spirit  of  harmony,  the 
quality  of  its  work,  and  its  substantial  growth  are  such  as  to 
commend  it  most  favorably  to  the  Chinese. 

The  government  educational  authorities  have  officially  rec- 
ognized and  registered  its  middle  school. 

The  Conunissioner  of  Education  has  asked  Dr.  J.  L.  Stew- 
art, vice-president  of  the  university,  to  serve  upon  the  Board 
of  Advisors  of  the  Government  System  of  Education,  and  has 
made  him  a  monthly  grant  for  expenses. 

The  government  representatives  have  requested  the  Union 


402  JOHN   FRANKLIN   GOUCHER 

Uni\'ersity  professoi's  to  assist  in  their  educational  work  by 
lectures  and  in  other  ways,  and  have  given  other  significant 
e\'idences  of  their  appreciation. 

Til  is  is  the  most  thoroughly  organized  piece  of  educational 
work  in  the  Republic  of  China. 

The  University  of  Nanking  is  another  recent  development. 
It  is  situated  at  Nanking  in  the  lower  Yangtsze  Valley. 
Nanking  is  the  transportation,  literary,  and  educational 
center,  and  an  ancient  capital  of  China,  and  many  think  that 
in  the  near  future  it  will  become  the  permanent  capital  of 
the  republic.  It  is  central  to  105,000,000  people  speaking 
the  Wu  dialect  in  the  four  provinces  immediately  about  it; 
and,  when  the  system  of  railroads  which  is  being  constructed 
is  completed,  it  will  be  the  most  accessible  city  in  all  China. 

After  three  or  four  years  of  discussion,  a  basis  of  union 
acceptable  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  Disciples 
of  Christ,  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  was  agreed  upon,  and  the  union  of  the  school 
supported  by  these  boards  in  and  about  Nanking  went  into 
effect  as  an  Interdenominational  University,  February  1910. 

Control 

There  is  a  Board  of  Trustees  in  America,  composed  of 
three  from  each  of  the  cooperating  mission  boards,  who  per- 
form the  usual  duties  of  such  officers. 

There  is  on  the  field  a  Board  of  Twelve  Managers,  four  from 
each  mission,  who  control  and  manage  the  affairs  of  the  uni- 
versity, subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

For  immediate  control  there  is  a  Local  Executive  Commit- 
tee of  the  Board  of  Managers,  as  well  as  a  University  Coun- 
cil representing  the  faculty. 

April  19,  1911,  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State 
of  New  York  granted  a  charter  to  the  University  of  Nanking 
and  in  August,  1912,  advanced  to  the  degree  of  bachelor  of 
arts  the  first  class  to  graduate  from  the  University  of  Nan- 
king.    Last  year  it  had  501  students  in  attendance. 


christian  education  in  china  403 

Departments 

Its  Preparatory  School  and  its  College  are  well  developed, 
determining  the  standards  of  requirement,  and  other  schools 
of  similar  grades  are  being  developed  and  affiliated  with  it. 

It  is  enlarging  its  Teachers'  College  and  Training  School, 
the  latter  for  primary  school  teachers  and  the  former  for 
teachers  of  more  advanced  schools. 

Twenty-eight  mission  boards  and  societies  requested  the 
university  to  open  a  language  school,  where  young  mission- 
aries could  spend  their  first  year  under  the  most  favorable 
conditions  to  study  the  language.  This  school  opened  Octo- 
ber 15  with  about  30  per  cent  more  students  than  it  had  an- 
nounced it  would  receive  the  first  year,  and  arrangements 
have  been  made  to  house  and  permanently  care  for  the  stu- 
dents who  are  applying  from  distant  parts  of  the  republic. 

The  Central  China  Medical  School,  representing  seven  de- 
nominations has  become  an  organic  part  of  the  university. 

The  theological  school,  in  which  five  denominations  are 
united  and  seven  others  are  cooperating,  is  closely  affiliated 
with  the  university  with  the  prospect  of  organic  union  in  the 
near  future. 

The  agricultural  department  is  engaged  in  practical  work 
along  with  its  regular  instruction.  The  government  and  the 
people  of  Nanking  have  turned  over  to  the  university  1000 
acres  of  ground  on  the  side  of  Purple  Mountain,  about  two 
mUes  from  the  university  site,  and  have  offered  1000  acres 
more  about  thirty  miles  distant,  but  the  latter  is  too  far 
away  to  be  handled  at  present.  This  gives  opportunity  to 
introduce  a  form  of  agriculture  not  dependent  upon  irriga- 
tion, which  is  recognized  as  an  exceedingly  valuable  eco- 
nomic contribution  to  China. 

Dr.  Balie,  one  of  the  professors  of  the  university,  has  direc- 
tion of  the  department  and  is  colonizing  farmers  who  have 
been  driven  from  their  homes  by  flood  and  famine.  During 
last  winter  and  spring  this  department  set  out  100,000  forest 
trees,  4000  fruit  trees,  2000  of  which  were  imported  from 
California,  and  5000  mulberry  trees,  and  a  man  trained  in 
Japan  according  to  the  most  approved  methods  of  the  Japan- 


404  JOHN    FR-\NKLIN   GOUCHER 

ese  government,  is  teaching  the  care  of  the  silk  worm.  It  is 
also  introducing  the  culti\'ation  of  potatoes,  strawberries, 
other  small  fruits,  and  a  number  of  cereals. 

Staff 

The  president  is  Dr.  A.  J.  Bowen. 

In  the  preparatory  and  college  work  are  fifteen  graduates 
of  American  institutions. 

In  the  theological  department  are  Dr.  J.  C.  Garret,  and 
four  other  university  men,  all  with  fine  command  of  the 
Chinese  language. 

In  the  medical  school  are  seven  men,  trained  in  American 
medical  schools,  making  twenty-eight  specially  trained  for- 
eigners. There  are  also  on  the  staff  of  the  university  thirty 
Chinese  teachers,  some  of  whom  are  scholars  of  great  distinc- 
tion, making  a  total  of  fifty-eight,  and  this  does  not  include 
the  agricultural  department  and  only  one  from  the  language 
school. 

Equipment 

There  are  63  acres  of  land  and  walls  worth  $34,800  and 
money  is  in  hand  to  purchase  about  40  acres  more;  nine 
dwellings  valued  at  $23,750;  three  lecture  halls,  one  scien- 
tific building,  three  dormitories  (accommodating  500);  one 
chapel,  one  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building,  $62,500;  equipment, 
314,150;  the  total  value  of  all  equipment  is  $134,200. 

Finances 

The  63  acres  of  ground,  18  buildings  and  equipment,  are 
worth  $134,200.  The  three  cooperating  missions  supply 
12  professors  at  an  average  of  $1500  each;  this  totals  $18,000. 
Each  mission  gives  $3000  annually  for  current  expense;  this 
makes  $9000.  The  treasurer  and  accountant  receives  $1000. 
There  is  an  annual  contribution  of  $28,000.  All  of  the  above 
capitalized  at  5  per  cent  represents  $560,000. 

The  university  has  recently  received  for  land,  buildings 
and  endowment  through  its  $500,000  campaign,  $270,000. 

The  theological  department  has  five  professors  at  $1500 
each,  making  $7500,  which  capitaHzed  at  5  per  cent  is  $150,- 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  405 

000;  twenty  acres  of  land  and  buildings  valued  at  $31,000; 
these  two  items  total  $181,000. 

The  medical  department  has  seven  professors  at  $1500 
each  which  capitalized  at  5  per  cent  is  $210,000;  equipment 
valued  at  $14,000;  seven  residences  valued  at  $21,000;  $300 
on  current  expense  account  annually  from  each  of  the  seven 
cooperating  missions  $2100,  capitalized  at  5  per  cent  is  $42,- 
000;  totals  $287,000. 

The  grand  total  is  $1,432,200. 

The  canvass  for  $500,000  is  progressing  very  successfully; 
$380,000  have  been  added  to  the  assets  of  the  university 
within  a  year,  and  there  are  promises  of  assistance  sufficient 
to  make  the  total  assets  equivalent  to  about  $1,500,000. 

Three  other  denominations  are  completing  their  arrange- 
ments to  unite  with  the  university,  which  will  further  increase 
its  assets  and  efficiency. 

Christian  primary  and  secondary  education  throughout 
the  region  covered  by  the  affiliated  and  codperating  missions, 
including  more  than  one  hundred  schools,  is  being  standard- 
ized and  coordinated  under  the  supervision  and  direction  of 
the  university  and  the  Central  China  Educational  Commis- 
sion. 

This  commission  consists  of  two  representatives  from  each 
of  the  missions  in  the  Wu  dialect-speaking  districts,  having 
educational  work.  Its  purpose  is  to  discuss  the  educational 
work  in  these  four  provinces,  and  unite  all  the  work  into  a 
system,  no  matter  where  it  relegates  any  present  school. 

The  university  is  prospering,  and  has  the  heartiest  endorse- 
ment of  the  Chinese.  Its  patronage  is  growing  rapidly,  and 
broadening.  The  highest  officials  patronize  the  university, 
honor  its  faculty,  attend  its  public  functions,  and  speak  in 
highest  commendation  of  its  work. 

Its  agricultural  department  has  had  a  notable  recognition. 

The  China  Famine  Relief  Commission  granted  $3000 
(Mexican)  to  aid  its  work.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
Nanking  has  made  a  large  grant  to  assist  in  its  development, 
and  so  has  the  Silk  Merchants'  Guild. 

An  exceptional  endorsement  has  been  given  it,  signed  by 
Sun  Wen,   the  provisional  president,  Yuan  Shih  K'ai,  the 


406  JOHN    FRANKLIN   GOUCHER 

president,  T.i  Yuan  Iling,  the  vice-president,  every  member 
of  tlie  cabinet  of  the  republic,  many  leading  generals,  others 
higli  in  civil  service,  representative  merchants  and  influen- 
tial financiers. 

The  University  of  Nanking  has  had  the  most  phenomenal 
development  of  any  educational  work  in  China. 

These  two  interdenominational  universities,  strategically 
located,  in  the  Yangtsze  Valley,  1800  miles  or  five  weeks' 
journey  apart,  each  easily  accessible  to  one-fourth  of  China's 
immense  population,  are  cooperating  in  organized  effort  to 
realize  the  same  ideals  and  are  registering,  even  at  this  early 
stage  of  their  development,  an  immense  constructive  influ- 
ence which  suggests  the  possibilities  and  benefits  of  a  system 
of  Christian  Education  which  shall  reach  the  entire  republic. 

A  similar  interdenominational  movement  is  in  progress 
about  Peking.  A  representative  committee  of  thirty-seven, 
the  Union  Educational  Committee  has  been  constituted, 
and  has  "sub-committees  at  work  preparing  courses  of  study 
for  the  primary  and  intermediate  grade  schools  for  the 
Chili  province,  a  similar  committee  for  the  academic  grades, 
another  for  summer  conferences,  and  a  Provisional  Commit- 
tee on  Union  Educational  Work  in  North  China, "  and  they 
report  considerable  progress. 

The  Union  Medical  College  of  Peking — international  and 
interdenominational — receives  an  annual  grant  of  10,000 
taels  from  the  Chinese  government  for  current  expenses,  and 
has  had  notable  recognition  from  the  Chinese  authorities. 

Wherever  other  institutions  may  emerge  in  the  future, 
the  interdenominational  universities  at  the  great  centers  of 
Nanking,  Chengtu,  Peking  and  Canton,  each  with  one-fourth 
of  China's  population  accessible,  must  exert  a  constructive 
and  immeasurable  influence  upon  the  100,000,000  people  to 
whom  they  are  respectively  central. 

The  Woman's  Boards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
United  States,  American  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Foreign 
Missions,  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  established 
a  Woman's  Union  Medical  College  at  Peking  in  1907,  and  it 
will  graduate  its  first  class  in  1913.     Its  students  come  from 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  407 

Foo  Chow,  Chengtu,  Nanking,  and  Shanghai,  as  well  as  from 
Peking. 

The  Woman's  College  of  Peking  is  an  interdenominational 
institution,  founded  by  the  union  of  four  denominational 
boards,  and  has  graduated  two  classes. 

There  is  an  interesting  and  promising  interdenominational 
movement  in  the  Fukien  province,  which  has  made  sub- 
stantial progress  toward  standardizing  the  primary  and 
middle  schools,  and  is  working  upon  a  plan  for  an  interde- 
nominational university. 

The  Shangtung  Christian  University  is  another  interde- 
nominational institution  which  should  be  mentioned  with 
considerable  detail  had  we  the  time.  It  includes  the  Amer- 
ican Presbyterian,  English  Baptist  and  Anglican  mission 
boards. 

There  are  some  thirty  different  higher  educational  institu- 
tions in  China  that  are  interdenominational  in  their  control, 
their  faculties,  and  their  students,  and  are  serving  all  the 
missionary  societies  that  join  in  their  support  and  manage- 
ment with  economy  and  increased  efficiency.  These  insti- 
tutions include  universities,  theological  schools,  medical 
schools,  colleges,  normal  schools,  schools  for  missionaries' 
children,  and,  in  fact,  educational  institutions  above  the 
primary  and  intermediate  grade,  of  every  character,  and  some 
of  the  kindergarten  training  schools  for  the  preparation  of 
kindergarten  teachers  are  supported  and  controlled  by  inter- 
denominational bodies.  This  method  of  training  and  admin- 
istration has  passed  its  experimental  stage,  and  reached  a 
position  where  it  commands  the  confidence  of  those  who 
participate. 

The  Canton  Christian  College  has  been  making  decided 
progress  the  last  few  years,  and  has  418  students.  Practi- 
cally all  the  Protestant  denominations  at  work  in  Canton — 
British  as  well  as  American — are  united  in  the  work  of  the 
University  Medical  School  affiliated  with  the  college,  and 
the  spirit  of  unity  is  on  the  increase. 

The  Canton  Missionary  Conference  has  organized  an 
Interdenominational  Board  of  Cooperation,  which  is  opcrat- 


408  JOHN    FR.\NKLIN   GOUCHER 

ing  as  a  unifying  factor  among  the  missions,  churches  and 
schools. 

The  South  China  Educational  Association,  ''the  member- 
ship of  which  is  available  to  all,  whether  Chinese  or  foreigners 
who  may  be  engaged  in,  or  in  any  way  connected  with  or 
interested  in  educational  work,"  has  established  a  Unifica- 
tion Committee,  with  a  Unification  Secretary,  and  is  working 
successfully  to  secure  uniform  schedules  and  coordination  in 
the  schools  associated.  It  issues  a  monthly  bulletin,  has 
monthly  meetings,  and  many  of  the  present  problems  of 
school  management  and  of  larger  policy  have  had  much 
light  thrown  upon  them  by  the  discussions  before  the  asso- 
ciation. 

There  are  some  denominational  schools  of  high  grade  which 
are  making  excellent  growth,  such  as  St.  John's  University 
at  Shanghai,  Boone  University  at  Woo  Chow,  and  others. 
But  the  most  notable  developments  are  in  the  interdenomi- 
national institutions,  and  the  trend  of  Christian  education 
in  China  is  decidedly  towards  the  interdenominational  uni- 
versity, with  denominational  and  interdenominational  tech- 
nical schools  and  colleges,  organically  related  or  closely 
affiliated,  strengthening  the  local  administration,  but  keeping 
the  determination  of  the  larger  policies  and  problems  in  the 
hands  of  the  interdenominational  boards  in  the  home  lands. 
There  seem  to  be  abundant  reasons  to  justify  this. 

It  eliminates  overlapping,  duplication,  and  harmful  com- 
petition. 

It  secures  cooperation,  specialization  of  workers  and  work, 
economy  of  administration,  and  increased  efficiency. 

It  broadens  the  field  of  activity  for  the  institution,  en- 
larges the  constituency  from  which  to  draw  students,  multi- 
plies the  facilities  for  graduates  to  find  employment,  and  gives 
increased  opportunities. 

It  appeals  to  the  loyalty  and  liberahty  of  Christians  in  the 
home  lands  and  makes  possible  the  establishment,  mainte- 
nance, and  development  of  great  Christian  institutions;  it 
secures  to  them  the  ability  to  maintain  the  highest  standards 
of  efficiency;  it  enables  them  to  compare  most  favorably 
with  the  government  schools  in  the  breadth,  variety,  and 


CHRISTIAN   EDUCATION   IN   CHINA  409 

thoroughness  of  work  offered;  it  guarantees  the  continuance 
of  their  Christian  character;  and  simphfies  the  problems  of 
governmental  approach  and  recognition. 

Business  men  desire  that  their  investments  shall  have  two 
qualities  in  particular,  security  and  productiveness.  Inter- 
denominational institutions  furnish  both  of  these  in  large 
measure,  and  react  with  blessed  influence  upon  the  support- 
ing Churches  in  the  home  land,  reflecting  the  prayer  of  Our 
Lord  for  His  disciples  that  they  all  may  be  one. 

It  has  been  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  many  that  China, 
the  oldest,  largest,  most  conservative  nation  on  earth,  should 
have  remained  to  the  present  time  so  slightly  influenced  by 
Christianity. 

May  it  not  be  because  Christianity  has  had  neither  the 
vision  nor  the  spirit  to  properly  undertake  the  mighty  task? 
Christ  took  a  httle  child  and  set  him  in  the  midst  of  His  disci- 
ples as  the  hope  and  responsibility  of  the  Church,  and  called 
His  disciples  to  be  laborers,  to  be  laborers  together,  to  be 
''laborers  together  with  Him."  When  they  recognize  the 
possibilities  of  Christian  education  to  so  influence  the  children 
as  to  lay  adequate  foundations  for  the  Kingdom  of  Christ, 
and  possess  the  Spirit  to  undertake  the  programme  with 
united  effort,  He  will  honor  their  labor  with  assured  success. 


i 


\ 


AUTHORS 


Bland,  J.  O.  P 223 

Blakesleb,  G.  H 300 

Capen,  Edward  W 93 

Carl,  Katharine  A 305 

CoRBiN,  Paul  L 256 

Desmet,  Leo 378 

Drew,  Edward  B 272 

Edmunds,  Charles  K 181 

Eliot,  Charles  W 1 

Goucher,  John  Franklin 388 

Hart,  Albert  Bushnell 37 

Honda,  Masujiro 176 


Kuo,  P.  VV 345 

Robinson,  B.  Atwood 237 

Seaman,  L.  L 50 

Storrs,  Charles  L 359 

Straight,  Willard 119 

Thomson,  John  Stuart 66 

TsAO,  Y.  S 162 

Wang,  Ching-Chun 19 

Williams,  F.  W 319 

Young,  Charles  W 199 

Yui,  C.  Voonping 335 


SUBJECT  INDEX 


Ability  of  China,  24-25. 

Backwardness  of  China,  reasons  for, 
23-24. 

Boxer  uprising,  51-52,  297-300. 

Catholic  missions  in  China,  378-387; 
organization  of  Catholic,  378-381; 
conversions,  382-384;  resources, 
384-387. 

Christianity  in  China,  20-22. 

Commerce,  241-243. 

Dangers  to  China  from  the  great 
powers,  26-28. 

Democracy  in  China,  54. 

Diplomacy  in  China;  American  and 
Japanese,  176-180. 

Dollar  diplomacy,  120-122.  t^ 

Education  in  China,  98-99;  effect 
of  American  and  Japanese,  upon 
revolution,  165-1(^;  status  of,  at 
dawn  of  revolution,  346-347;  effect 
of  revolution  upon,  347-348;  reor- 
ganization of,  348-355;  students 
educated  in  United  States,  355- 
356;  popularizing  education,  356- 
357;  recent  developmcnt.s  of  Chris- 
tian, 388-409;  world  missionary 
conference  on  China,  388-391; 
West    China    Union    University, 


397-^00;  University  of  Nanking, 
402^06. 

Empress  Dowager,  Tze-Hsi,  305- 
318;  character  of,  305;  painting 
the  portrait  of,  306-312;  court  of, 
308-310;  simplicity  of,  310-311; 
audience  hall  of,  311-312;  daily 
life,  312-314;  agriculture,  316;  mu- 
sic, 316-317;  descent  of,  317. 

Finances,  present  situation  of,  150- 
154. 

Foreign  trade,  243-255;  with  the 
United  States,  246-255. 

Foreigners,  attitude  of  towards 
China,  15-18. 

Great  powers,  attitude  of  towards 
China,  14-15. 

Hart,  Sir  Robert,  early  life,  272-274; 
Chinese  foreign  customs  service, 
275-280;  character  of  customs  serv- 
ice, 280-282;  organization  and 
development  of  service,  284-290; 
diplomatic  service  of,  290-295; 
po.stal  service,  creation  of,  296- 
297;  Boxer  revolt,  207-300;  personal 
characteristics,  301-302;  summary 
of  life  work,  303-304,  3()(). 


411 


412 


SUBJECT   INDEX 


Holy  Alliance;  in  Europe,  37-39; 
new  holy  alliance  for  China,  39-49. 

Industries  of  China,  20. 

Japan,  the  United  States  and  China, 
17G-1S0. 

Loan  negotiations,  43-49;  oppressive 
conditions  of,  (51-03;  history  of, 
119-147;  John  Hay  and  open-door 
policy,  124-125;  participation  of 
American  capital,  127-131;  condi- 
tions of  the  six  powers,  143-145; 
Crisp  loan,  14&-148;  present  fi- 
nancial situation,  150-154;  crit- 
icism and  defense  of  the  six  power 
group,  154-159;  withdrawal  of  sup- 
port of  American  government,  159- 
160;  statement  and  withdrawal  of 
American  banking  group,  160-161. 

Local  government,  54. 

Manchu  conquest  of  China,  319-334; 
Nurhachu,  319-324;  Peking  cap- 
tured, 327-328;  establishment  of 
Manchu  rule,  328-330;  Manchu 
bannermen,  333. 

Manchuria,  44;  proposal  to  neutral- 
ize railroads,  128-129. 

Medical  practice,  present  status 
compared  with  Greeks,  199-201; 
compared  with  former  medical 
practice  in  Europe,  201-203;  his- 
tory of,  in  China,  203-207;  coming 
of  western  medical  missionaries, 
206-209;  western  quacks,  209-210; 
questionable  opium  treatment, 
210;  comparison  between  western 
and  Chinese  treatment,  210-212; 
medical  colleges,  212-217;  lan- 
guage question  in  teaching  west- 
ern medicine,  217-220;  present 
status  of  western  practice  in 
China,  220-222. 

Missionaries  in  China,  104-109;  Cath- 
olic, in  China,  378-387;  conver- 
sions, 382-384;  resources,  384-387; 
educational  work  of,  388-409. 

Mongolia,  46. 

Monroe  doctrine,  47. 

Moral  elements  in  Chinese  revolu- 
tion; enlightenment  through  west- 
ern education,  360-361 ;  new  moral 


conscience,  361-364;  new  self-con- 
sciousness among  Chinese  people, 
364-369;  self-control,  369-371;  out- 
look for  future,  371-377. 

Nanking,  siege  of  during  revolution, 
335-344;  description  of  fighting, 
336-339;  humanity  of  revolution- 
ists, 340-341. 

Opium  traffic,  abolition  of,  223-236; 
general  situation  especially  in 
Shansi,  265-269;  anti-opium  agi- 
tation, 224-225;  failure  to  abolish  j 
227-231;  violation  of  opium  agree-  fl 
ment,  231-232;  moral  aspect  of 
opium  smoking,  232-236. 

Opium  war,  52,  224-226. 

Partitioning  of  China,  50,  52. 

Poverty  of  China  and  its  principle, 
13. 

Protestant  missions  in  China,  388- 
409;  world  missionary  conference 
on  China,  388-391;  Methodist 
Episcopal  work,  392-393;  Pres- 
byterian, Baptist  and  American 
Board,  394-395;  West  China  Union 
University,  397-400;  University  of 
Nanking,  402-406. 

Physical  problems,  181-198;  refor- 
estation, need  of,  182-183,  262- 
263;  rivers,  need  of  control,  183- 
186;  typhoons,  186-187;  weather 
service,  187-188;  canals,  189-192; 
railroads,  193-196. 

Qualities  of  the  Chinese,  54-55. 

Railroads,  193-196. 

Recognition  of  the  Chinese  Repub- 
lic, 53-65. 

Republic  of  China,  legal  status  of, 
56-57. 

Resources  of  China,  239-240. 

Revolution,  Chinese;  success,  55-60; 
significance  of,  66-68;  beginnings 
of,  68-71;  causes  of,  73-75,  343- 
344;  outbreak,  75;  leaders  of,  75- 
81;  railroad  situation,  influence 
of,  82-84;  books  and  songs,  influ- 
ence of,  84-85;  fighting,  character 
of,  84-87;  Nanking,  siege  of  during 
revolution,  335-344;  effect  of,  upon 
education,  345-358;  moral  and  spir- 
itual elements  in,  359-377. 


SUBJECT   INDEX 


413 


Shansi  Province,  industrial  future 
of,  256-271;  mineral  resources 
of,  257-260;  concessions,  258-259; 
native  methods  of  mining,  259; 
railroads,  260-262;  aforestation, 
262-263;  agricultural  resources, 
263-265;  opium,  265-269. 

Social  reforms,  103-104. 

Soldiers,  fighting  ability  of,  2-4; 
86-87. 

Students,  influence  of  returned 
Chinese,  upon  revolution,  162- 
175;  early  students  in  United 
States,  164-165;  preliminary  plots 
by  students,  168-173;  influence  of 
Japan  and  America  compared, 
169-174. 

Sun  Yat  Sen,  75-78,  89-90. 

Trade,  19-20. 

Unifying  China,  means  of;  common 
language,  4-5;  common  system  of 
taxation,  5-7;  roads  and  railroads, 
7-9;  strong  central  government, 
10-11;  sentiment  of  common  feel- 
ing of  nationality,  11-13. 

United  States  and  China;  common 
interests.   28-29;  trade,   29;  both 


Pacific  Powers,  30-31;  cordial  re- 
lations in  the  past,  31-32;  Ameri- 
cans largely  responsible  for  the 
revolution,  33-34;  the  immigration 
question,  34-35;  the  selfish  finan- 
cial interests,  35-36;  in  six  power 
group,  45-49;  special  obligations 
of  the  United  States,  57-58;  Amer- 
ica's business  opportunity,  237- 
255;  friendly  feeling  between,  237- 
238;  grade  between  245-255. 

United  States,  Japan  and  China,  176- 
180. 

Western  influence  in  China;  what 
western  influence  has  accom- 
plished, 94-109;  industrial  devel- 
opment, 95-97;  postal  service,  95- 
96;  railroads  and  steamships,  96; 
education,  98-99;  politics  and 
government,  99-102;  missionaries, 
104-109;  what  western  influence 
should  not  destroy,  109-111 ;  where 
China  can  learn  from  the  west, 
111-114;  how  the  west  can  be 
helpful,  114-118. 

Wilson,  President,  attitude  towards 
China,  159-160. 


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